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TEUTH MADE SIMPLE : 



BEING THE FIRST VOLUME OP 



A SYSTEM OF 



THEOLOGY FOR CHILDREN, 



CHARACTER OP GOD. 



BY JOHN TODD, D. D. 

Author of " Student's Manual," "lectures to Children," &c. 



;9 7 1 



NEW EDITION. 



NORTHAIMPTON, MASS. 

HOPKINS, BRIDGMAN & CO 

1 856. 






^%^'° 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1856, by 

HOPKINS, BRIDGMAN & Co., 

In tlie Clerk's office of the District Court of Massachusetts. 



To Master John Edwards Todd: — 

My dear Boy, — 

Most of this little book has been 
written and laid up in my drawer, for a long 
time, because I was afraid to have it printed, 
lest it should not be good, and do good. Many 
a weary hour, long after you and most other 
people have been asleep, have I been working 
over these pages. Even now, I have many 
fears lest it will not be found to be all that I 
could wish. 

If my plan may be carried out, I wish to 
make this series of volumes, (the last I ever 
expect to write for children,) a complete Sys- 
tem OF Theology, so plain, that children can 
understand it, so pretty that they will read it, 
and so good, that it will make them good 
The next volume will be on " the Bible," and 

(3) 



( iv ) 
that, I am sure, will be interesting — much 
more so than this can be. 

You are now five years old, my boy ; and 
should God spare your life five years more, I 
shall hope that there is not a word in this 
book which vou, and all others of the dear 
children who read it, cannot easily understand. 
For children of your age, and upwards, I 
have written it. 

You know how busv I am, and how seldom 
I have even half an hour to be with my chil- 
dren, because my duties are so many and so 
pressing. Should you live to grow up to be a 
man, and live, — as I hope you will, — to do 
good long after my head rests in the grave, 
you will wonder why your father, with all his 
professional duties, should ever write books. 
Let me tell you. Far away from our house, 
lives an aged widow. She has no children 
near her. She has no home. She has no 
money. She has been deprived of reason ever 
since I can remember. She does not even 



( V ) 

know her own children. That aged woman 
is your father's mother ! For the last twelve 
years, I have had the honor to provide for this 
afflicted woman, and to do it, I have been 
obliged to use my pen. For this, I have writ- 
ten books, and every cent of the proceeds 
have thus been devoted. Nothing else would 
ever have made me an author, — nothing else 
would ever keep me one. Have I not done 
right ? I charge you, then, my dear child, and 
I charge every child who reads this book, that 
if you live, and as long as you live, never fail 
to be kind, affectionate, and grateful to your 
mother. And if in her age she needs your 
aid, give it to her, though you work in a brick- 
yard, or in a coal-mine, to earn the money. 
Never let a sorrow dwell in her heart which 
you can remove, nor a grief which you can 
soften. Next to your God, let your mother 
have your love. 

May that great Being whose character I 

have tried to describe here, ever bless you and 
1# 



( vi ) 
every child who shall open this volume, raak 
ing you w^ise, and holy, and happy. Then 
will the prayers of your father and their 
friend be answered, and then will he have a 
rich reward — the only one he can possibly 
have in this life. 

Philadelphia, Clinton Street, May 1, 1839. 



CONTENTS 



ADDRESS TO MOTHERS Page 15 

LECT. I. 
IS THERE ANY GOD? 

Can a child reason? Bolted door. New book. The text 
Family visit. Dead brother. How to know about him, 
Pond. Bridge. Mill. Boat. Yard. Garden. Room. Sis 
ter's treasures. Father's cane. Application of the story. 
How we know about God. Two hard words used. Ex 
plained. Boy's hammer. Girl's doll. Greenlander reason 
ing. His kajak. The shipwreck. Marks on the sand. Rea- 
soning. Barn on fire. The universe. What is chance' 
Its folly described. Story of man cast away. His island 
Sees something. Description of it. Reasoning about it. A 
dialogue about it. Conclusion of the story. Beautiful house 
Steps. Windows. Walls. Paintings. Not done by chance 
Homer. His poems. Arab's stories. City in the desert. 
Curious story of Columbus. Heap of watches. Heathen 
can know about God. Four remarks. First remark. Second 
remark. Third remark. Last remark. 

The Sequel. 

Letter to Mr. Todd. The answer. The curious dream 
Hafed. His beautiful house. His family. White peacock 
Death of his wife. Death of his children. His wicked wish 
His garden. A new world. Inhabitant. Dialogue. D 
scription of the chance-world. A chance-man. His eyes 
A chance-sister. A young lady. Her features. A chance 
duel. A chance- wound. Chance-cattle. A chance-herd 
The happy owner. A chance-sun. Measuring time. A 

(7) 



Viii CONTENTS. 

misfortune. A house in the chance-world. A chance-feast. 
Effects of heat. Hafed's reflections. Hafed awakes. His 
views altered. Conclusion. Spectamur agendo. Lines on 
hearing this lecture Page 55 

LECT. II. 

GOD A SPIRIT. 

Hiero. The heathen philosopher. His answer. God a rock. 
Why ? God a tower. Hebrews want a word. First reason 
why God called a spirit. What cannot be seen. Angel-visits. 
God a spirit. 7%e second reason. The little dead boy. His 
death. God not heard. Third reason. The hghtning. Holy 
Daniel. China. The absent brother. Fourth reason 
Sodom's burning. The angel in Egypt. Angel in Palestine 
Awful power. God's power. Fifth reason. What must die. 
What cannot die. Sixth reason. Angel-students. Ignorance 
of a child. What angels do. What God knows. Why God 
is unlike a spirit. First reason. God had no beginning. 
Second reason. Angels have changed. A spirit learns new 
things. God does not. Third reason. A spirit limited. A 
spirit not in two places. Not so with God. Fourth reason. 
Spirits are servants. God not controlled. Four things to be 
remembered. The first. Pictures supposed. Why we make 
pictures. No picture like God. Second thing to be remem- 
bered. A good man's comfort. Third thing to be remembered. 
How God sees us. The dirty dress. Fourth thing to be re- 
membered. The noblest thing. No picture of Christ. How 
Christ seen 119 



LECT. III. 

GOD ETERNAL. 

The little boy and the pond. The broken arm. Sleepless 
night. A long year. The old man. Going backward. 
What eternity is — and God. How we measure eternity. 



CONTENTS. 



IX 



How old is God. When eternity begin ? Mysteries. What 
we see begin. Will God stop living? The aged visiter. 
Rock in the ocean. What we learn. The first thing. 
What wicked men say. Solomon's brazen sea. Day of 
Judgment. What is before us. 7'Ae second thing learned. 
Great work. What it is. The third thing Learned. The 
painted boards. Furniture. Houses. Great things. World 
to be destroyed. Golden knife. Why the world destroyed. 
The fourth thing learned. What we need not fear. Who 
will remain? The fifth thing learned. Why God is to be 
feared. His anger. Beautiful prayer 151 



LECT. IV. 

GOD EVERYWHERE. 

A question. How know we are here. How men see things. 
How God sees things. First proof — that God is everywhere. 
Abraham. Joseph. David. Jonah. Daniel. The furnace. 
African desert. Sailor-boy. The poor soldier. Thomas 
Paine. The mountain-top. Second proof — that God is 
everywhere. Bible proof Clouds. Storms. Mind. Sin- 
ning heart. Young raven's cry. God in heaven. God on 
earth. In all parts. Special presence. First example. 
Second example. Third example. The wind, the fire, and 
the earthquake. Fourth example. Awful murder. Mr. 
White. Beautiful description of it. The chamber. Tho 
blow. The deed done. The secret Secret not safe. The 
anguish of spirit. Conscience. God in the conscience. Fhst 
thing taught by this lecture. The eye that sleeps not. Story 
of Lafayette. The eye. Second thing taught. How God 
sees everywhere. The little cabinet. The last thing taught. 
The little seed. God present in troubles. God with the 
poor. The orphan child. Conclusion 175 



X CONTENTS. 

LECT. V. 

GOD WISE. 

David. The soul wants a house. The soul's servants. The 
telescope. The eye more curious. Hov^ the eye keeps 
clean and safe. The frame of the house. The man of steel. 
The curious chain. The pump. Little channels. The 
house repaired. Witnesses against poison. The blood. The 
daily physician. Why we are born without dress. The ele- 
phant's head. The oyster. The muscle. The little bird. 
Birds wear spectacles. Little mill. Elephant's trunk. The 
rein-deer. The whale's great-coat. The clamp-fish. Food 
prepared everywhere. The ship of the desert. The soft, 
spongy foot. The Uttle songster. The shark. The pilot- 
friend. Very small watch. The insect. The strawberry 
pot. Instinct The young hen and the hawk. The beaver 
How to build a dam. The bee. Infancy. Mother's love. 
The great basin. How rain made. The ocean a great bless- 
ing. Faces not alike. Men cannot write alike. The tongue 
and the ear. Day and night. The Bible. How proved from 
God. Jesus Christ The wisdom of God seen. Who sees 
it The world to be destroyed. New heavens hereafter. 
The little top. What God will do hereafter 209 

LECT. VI. 

GOD KNOWS EVERY THING. 

St Paul's Cathedral. Christopher Wren. Ship-building. The 
telescope. Wooden man. How we know. How God knows. 
The bird. The oak. The eye. First proof God knows 
what men will do. Saul the king. Cyrus. No low notions 
of God. Mahomet. The nations. Second proof God 
knov)S what men will think. Third proof God will judge 
the world. The Jews. The murdered man. No conceal- 
ment What we call knowledge. Real knowledge. How 



CONTENDS. xi 

men think. Instruction 1. God not disappointed. The 
tower. Great plans. Wicked plans. Who disappointed 
Instruction 2. God do no injustice. How we do men injus 
tice. Innocent man hanged. We do God injustice. In 
struction 3. The good rewarded. Joseph. Job. Martyrs 
The father. Mother. Daughter. The bright boy. Instruc- 
tion 4. We ought to be afraid to sin. Day of judgment — 
what ? Things brought out. God looks deep in the heart. 
Conclusion 241 



LECT. VII. 

GOD'S POWER. 

Village of Anathoth. Jeremiah in prison. Curious time to 
buy a farm. Power of God. Hx)w first seen. A grain of 
w^heat. The great ball. Great basin. Great channel dug. 
The mountains. Small creatures. The balloon. Going to 
the sun in a balloon. Going to the stars. Candle in a star. 
Number of stars. How God makes things. Mind's great 
chain. Changes of this world. Second way of seeing God's 
power. Kings. Mind is power. Three things showing the 
power of God. The first thing. The happy family. Sor- 
rows come. The widow's God. Second thing showing 
God's power. Wonderful examples. God governs the minds 
of men. Greatness of Babylon. Third thing showing God's 
power. Satan and Christ. Christ in the manger. Christ on 
the cross. Christ in the tomb. God's strength. The flood. 
Nebuchadnezzar. What is an inference? First inference. 
We can give the Bible to the world. Difficulties in the 
way. Second inference— faith in God. Wicked are under 
God. Third inference. God terrible to the wicked. How 
he can punish. Last inference — God's power should make 
the good happy. What protection ! Conclusion 269 



xii CONTENTS. 

LECT. VIII. 

TRUTH OF GOD. 

Honest men and knaves not alike. Truth very important. 
What if God be not true ? A wish for these children. God 
a being of truth First proof. A deceitful father. How 
we are made. The argument. Continued. God a being 
of truth. Second proof. May men ever deceive? Boy 
about to be killed. Why may he not deceive ? False bal- 
ance. God a being of truth. Third proof. The Flood. 
Rainbow. Summer and winter. The Dead sea. Pass-over. 
Sin and misery connected. No dishonest man happy. Story 
of a dishonest man. Every sin makes us unhappy. God a 
being of truth. Fourth proof. Abraham. David. Captivity. 
God a being of truth. Fifth proof. Gehazi. Storjr of the 
three robbers. Lying despised. Lying brings certain ruin. 
How God views lying. God a being of truth. Last proof. 
When men deceive. How men are tempted. Change 
views. Men have prejudices. Men deceive because poor. 
God above all want. God sincere. One single inference. 
The angel. One great pillar. Men in trouble. Paul. 
Stephen the martyr! The little child. The storm. The 
grave. Feeling sins. Short prayer 301 

LECT. IX. 

GOD DOES AS HE PLEASES. 

Things great. Things bright. Ancient. Niagara. Wise men. 
Death. Mind governs. Men govern cattle. Why ? God's 
right to do as he pleases. A painter. West's picture. Why 
his property. A new Island. Whose property. No crea- 
ture may complain. The insect. The farmer. The rock 
and the sun. Why a child should obey. Our dependence 
on God. Pharaoh. King of Babylon. God bought us. All 
are sinners. How we were bought. God uses the right to 



CONTENTS. xiii 

do as he pleases. Proved by his creating. By his keeping 
the world. Sending his Son. By every child. Story of the 
little girl. The inference from the story. God's making and 
altering his laws, shows that he does as he pleases. The law 
of the sun. Of the Sabbath. Of Baptism. Extent of God's 
laws. Law of fire. Of the lion. Destruction of Jerusalem. 
God punishes for breaking his laws just as he pleases. Gives 
and takes away as he pleases. One thing to be remem.' 
hered. The rose-bush. The fair-flower. Walking the streets. 
Why not envy ? Story of the sick stranger. The discon- 
tented boys. Why God pleases to do as he does? What 
a being is God ! Conclusion 331 

LECT. X. 

GOD IS HOLY. 

Saying of Plutarch. A father's likeness. The most beautiful 
part of man. The most beautiful part of God. Giving a 
pledge. God's pledge. What makes a church solemn. How 
we can copy God. What God would be if not holy. What 
does the holiness of God mean. The first thing. Pure gold. 
While garment. 2. God hates some things and loves others. 
3. God by nature holy. 4. God hales sin wherever seen. The 
weeds. The cancer. Drunkenness. Moses. Uzzah. David. 
Jonah. Peter. First proof that God is holy. The jarring 
instrument. The leaky ship. The imperfect watch. Broken 
jar. The argument. Second proof that God is holy. Bowl 
full of sun-beams. The fountain. God's laws strict. Hu- 
man laws very different. The laws of men. God's laws do 
not change. How the Jews taught. The sacrifices. God 
punishes breaking his laws. Third proof that God is holy. 
Sending his Son. Bruising his Son. Christ's great sufferings. 
God of the* Bible different from other gods. What gods men 
have made. Heathen gods. Impure gods. Wicked men. 
What a god would such men make. A caution- Two men 
on an island. Who are wrong, and why? Conclusion. .. 363 

2 



Xiv CONTENTS. 

LECT. XL 

GOD IS GOOD. 

A visiter. Paul and Barnabas. The sun. Meaning of good- 
ness. The oceans. The river. The little channels. The 
flower. Sheep and lamb. First thing that shows God to be 
good. A jewel. A palace. The king's servants. The 
curious inhabitant. The soul will not die — and why The 
abode of man. Adam and the creatures. The lurniture of 
the dwelhng. Wonderful provisions. Second thing showing 
that God is goad. The sick father. The great mercy. 
God's distinguishing goodness. The captive. How the world 
redeemed. The Redeemer. The beautiful death. Pale 
corpse. Third thing that shows God to be good. Wicked 
men. Human society preserved. A look into the church 
A sinner redeemed. Prayer answered. Goodness of God 
not to be despised. Don't complain of your lot. Not to be 
proud. God's great care and goodness. Must imitate God's 
goodness. God to be trusted. Parting words to the little 
reader 393 



ADDRESS TO MOTHERS. 

(15^ 



ADDRESS TO MOTHERS. 



*' Now there stood by the cross of Jesus — his mo- 
ther !" — John xix. 25. 



Humboldt, in his celebrated travels, tells us, 
that after he had left the abodes of civiliza- 
tion far behind, in the wilds of South America, 
he found, near the confluence of the Atabapo 
and the Rio Terni rivers, a high rock — called 
the " Mother's Rock." 

The circumstances which gave this remark- 
able name to the rock were these. 

In 1799, a Roman Catholic missionary led 
his half-civilized Indians out on one of those 
hostile excursions, which they often made, to 
kidnap slaves for the Christians. They found 
a Guahiba woman in a solitary hut, with three 
children — two of whom w^ere infants. The 
father, with the older children, had gone out 
to fish, and the mother in vain tried to fly with 
2* B 17 



18 ADDRESS TO MOTHERS, 

her babes. She was seized by these man- 
hunters, hurried into a boat, and carried away 
to a missionary station at San Fernando. 

She was now far from her home ; but she 
had left children there, who had gone with 
their father. She repeatedly took her three 
babes and tried to escape, but was as often 
seized, brought back, and most unmercifully 
beaten with whips. 

At length the missionary determined to sepa- 
rate this mother from her three children ; and 
for this purpose, sent her in a boat up the Ata- 
bapo River, to the missions of the Rio Negro, 
at a station called Javita, 

Seated in the bow of the boat, the mother 
knew not where she was going, or what fate 
awaited her. She was bound, solitary and 
alone, in the bow of the long-boat; but she 
judged from the direction of the sun, that she 
was going away from her children. By a sud- 
den effort, she broke her bonds, plunged into 
the river, swam to the left bank of the Ata- 
bapo, and landed upon a Rock. She was pur- 
sued, and at evening retaken, and brought 
back to the rock, where she was scourged till 
her blood reddened the rock, — calling for her 
children ! and the rock has ever since been 



ADDRESS TO MOTHERS. 19 

called "The Mother's Rock," Her hands 
were then tied upon her back, still bleeding 
from the lashes of the manatee thongs of lea- 
ther. She was then dragged to the mission at 
Javita, and thrown into a kind of stable. The 
night was profoundly dark» and it was in the 
midst of the rainy season. She was now full 
seventy-five miles from her three children, in 
a straight line. Between her and her children, 
lay forests never penetrated by human foot- 
steps ; swamps and morasses, and rivers, never 
crossed by man. But her children are at San 
Fernando ; — and what can quench a mother's 
love ! Though her arms were wounded, she 
succeeded in biting her bonds with her teeth, 
and in the morning she was not to be found ! 
At the fourth rising sun — she had passed 
through the forests — swam the rivers, and all 
bleeding and worn out, was seen hovering 
round the little cottage in which her babes 
were sleeping ! 

She was seized once more ; — and before her 
wounds were healed, she was again torn from 
her children, and sent away to the missions on 
the upper Oroonoko River — where she droop- 
ed, and shortly died, refusing all kinds of nour- 
ishment — died of a broken heart at being torn 



20 ADDRESS TO MOTHERS. 

from her children ! Such is the history of 
"The Mother's Rock!" 

Perhaps I might make use of this touching 
story to lead you to contemplate the curse of 
slavery ; or to show you how far cruelty may 
fill the hearts of those who profess to bear the 
image of Jesus Christ : but I have a different 
object in view, and I mention it solely to illus- 
trate one single point, viz : — the strength of a 
mother's love for her children ; — a feeling as 
universal as man, and a stream so deep, that 
nothing but the eye of the Omniscient One 
can see its bottom ! For, wherever you find 
woman, whether exalted to her place by the 
Gospel, reduced to a mere animal by Mahomet, 
or sunk still low^er by heathenism, you find thi:* 
same unquenchable love for her children. She 
will cheerfully wear herself out, and go down 
to the grave, to alleviate the sufferings of a 
single child. I have now in my mind a poor 
widow, who told me, at the funeral of a son, 
whose intellect and reason had been destroyed 
by fits, that for thirty -eight years she had 
never passed a single night, in which she did 
not rise once or more, and go and minister to 
the wants of that child 1 She was literally 



ADDRESS TO MOTHERS. 21 

worn out, and in a few weeks followed her son 
to the grave. 

The heart of the mother can never grow 
cold. Her offspring may go out one by one, 
and be scattered to the four quarters of the 
globe ; but the rivers that run, and the moun- 
tains that rear their heads, and the long deserts 
that lie between her and them, neither lessen 
her love, nor loosen the bonds which hold them 
to her heart. Time and distance do nothing 
towards extinguishing those eternal fires which 
burn in her heart. From the moment that 
she first gazes on the face of her babe, to that 
in which she closes her eyes in the slumbers 
of death, she never remits her care, her anxie- 
ties, or her love for him. 

But you will ask, — is this so without excep- 
tion? Have we not read of Jewish mothers 
who would go out to the fires of Moloch, and 
with their own hand, take their babes, and 
dash them upon the iron spikes in the midst 
of the flames, and there stand and see them 
writhing in death, while the drums are beat- 
ing all around them to drown their cries'? 
Yes, you have read of this, and probably thou- 
sands of Jewish mothers have done it. And 
have we not read in the letters of Ward, (now 



22 ADDRESS TO MOTHERS. 

we trust resting in heaven,) of the mothers in 
India at the present day, who take their first- 
born, when the child is two or three years old, 
to the river's side, and encourage it to enter 
the stream till the current carries it out — and 
there stand and see it struggle, as it screams, 
and stretches its hands to her, and perishes? 
And have we not read of the mothers of Sau- 
ger Island, who have been seen casting their 
babes off among the alligators, and watching 
these monsters as they quarrelled for their 
prey, and watching too the writhing infant in 
the jaws of the successful animal — standing 
motionless while they break the bones and 
suck the blood of these innocents ! You have 
read all this. 

How, then, say you, can I reconcile all this 
cruelty with what I have been saying of a 
mother's love ? I reply, I said that a mother's 
love was strong and deep : I did not say that 
it is the deepest thing known on earth. No ! 
there is one thing deeper ! — it is that unutter- 
able sense of guilt and ill-desert which can 
overcome even a mother's love, and turn her 
into a tiger. These awful cases only prove 
what I have been saying: for when the 
wounded conscience, knowing of no Redeemer 



ADDRESS TO MOTHERS. 23 

from sin, would try to purchase her salvation, 
she offers the highest price of which she can 
conceive — the life of her own child ! Oh ! if 
we need no atonement by the blood of the 
Lamb, how is it that the soul, so torn that its 
very holiest and deepest affections are tortured 
away and destroyed, is ever to find peace, and 
confidence, and joy? What, but a Savior's 
blood, can pacify a conscience which will make 
a mother a monster in hopes of finding relief 
from its awful lashings ! 

The love which the father, the brother, or 
the sister bears, seems to be secondary, and 
the result of habit and association. But that 
which glows early and late, that which never 
tires or decays in the bosom of the mother, 
seems innate — a part of her very being. In 
such cases as that presented to Solomon, it 
speaks out in nature's own voice. 

Now, why has God planted this deep, this 
unquenchable, irrepressible love for her off- 
spring, in the mother's heart? Does he do 
any thing in vain ? Did he ever rear a moun- 
tain, or hollow out the basin for the great 
w^aters, or even leave the impression of his 
hand anywhere in nature — much more on the 
human heart — unless that hand was guided by 



24 ADDRESS TO MOTHERS* 

infinite wisdom ? No, — he had a design in all 
this, and a design worthy of himself. All do 
not see it, — all do not feel it. The Indian mo- 
ther who hangs her infant to the bough of the 
tree, and sings her wood-song while the winds 
rock it,' — thinks no further than to rear up her 
child to be a warrior or a hunter ; — the Afri- 
can mother who carries her infant on her back 
to her daily toil, may think no further than 
that he may be a slave under a kind master ; 
and many a mother claiming high intelligence 
and refinement, thinks no further than to rear 
up her child to share and enjoy wealth, plea- 
sures, notice and distinctions. With what pride 
does she gaze upon her little daughter, hoping 
she shall yet see her excite the admiration of 
the bright circle ! How will her heart doat, 
when that infant boy shall stand the first in the 
university, the first in his profession, and among 
the first in the nation ! As such mothers bend 
over their children in all the tenderness of 
maternal love and solicitude, they have no 
conception of the design of God in creating 
that feeling which looks down into the future, 
and lives in posterity. May we not fear there 
are too many who profess to be Christians, 
who, day by day, go no further in their views 



ADDRESS TO MOTHERS. 25 

than merely to train up their children for 
earth ? I do hope there are none of this de- 
scription who will read these pages; but if 
there are not, my readers will be very few, or 
very uncommon indeed. 

What are correct views on this subject? 
Why is a love so deep, planted in the bosom 
of the mother, that no language can describe 
it? You have seen the child die, and heard 
the lamentations of the father. The wailings 
of David over his son, still ring in our ears ; 
but the sorrows of the bereaved mother are 
too deep for wailing. You never hear her 
voice on such an occasion. Nature has given 
her no means by which to convey the agony 
of her sorrows ! Why has God created this 
love in her heart ? 

I will try to tell you. It is because he com- 
mits to her first, constant and immediate keep- 
ing, a treasure too important to be entrusted 
to a love that can be measured ! When he 
gives to the mother a child, what does he do ? 
He has made a new creation; — he has created 
a MIND, which is to think, and feel, to live, 
grow and expand — for ever ! — a mind, which 
is to act on other minds, and influence their 
destiny for eternity, — a mind, which is to be 
3 



26 ADDRESS TO MOTHERS. 

a vessel into which blessings or woes are to be 
poured, — and from which blessings or woes are 
to flow upon other minds for ever ! A new spi- 
rit is placed under the care of that mother, 
w^hich is surely to track its way in the eternal 
world, and in its train carry joy or misery — 
not for a day, or an age, or while a world lasts, 
but while ten thousand v/orlds fall away into 
nothing, and then it is only in the dawn of its 
being. Who would think it a small charge, 
were a young sun committed to her charge, 
which would shine as our sun does, and give 
light, and warmth, and heat, and uncounted 
blessings, if properly reared ; but which, if not 
properly reared, would be a curse for ever to 
hang up in the heavens, pouring woe and death 
upon the generations of the earth ! But know 
ye, that yonder infant in the cradle is a spirit 
which will live, when that sun has done shining, 
and will be felt in the universe ages after his 
light is extinguished — will be a greater bless- 
ing than the brightest sun that ever shone, or 
a heavier curse than the sun would be, if every 
ray of his light were a poisoned arrow. 

This is the reason why so deep a love is 
centred in the bosom of her to whom this im- 
mortal spirit is first committed. It would not 



ADDRESS TO MOTHERS. 27 

do to trust it to the cool calculations of one 
who could stop to measure her affection ; — no ! 
— such a spirit must first be placed in the 
hands of one whose love is too deep for meas- 
urement. 

Here, then, I take my stand ; and here I 
feel the real dignity of the mother to begin — 
for Go(f hath committed to her hands the keep- 
ing and the moulding of a spirit which may 
for ever rise up in glory and in light. Never, 
this side of eternity, will the influence of the 
mother of Moses be known — who so trained up 
a child and so implanted religious impressions 
upon his soul, that a kingdom and a crown 
could not tempt him from the service of God — 
the great end for which he was created ! You 
say that you cannot expect your child to be- 
come a Moses. True — nor did she expect this. 
But when you see a little boy walking the 
street, who dare say that he may not become a 
man, and become a blessing in his day and 
generation ? Recollect that our whole exist- 
ence on earth is but a childhood ; the manhood 
of the soul is in the next world, where the 
spirit of that child, redeemed and glorified, shall 
shine as the sun in the firmament for ever and 
ever, and shall scatter blessings as widely. Oh/ 



28 ADDRESS TO MOTHERS. 

if my little child is to do all that he ever does 
for his God, in this life, my heart would sink 
at the probahility of his doing little or nothing ; 
but when I recollect that heaven mav be his 
home, — infinitude the space in which he may 
move, and everlasting ages the period in which 
he may act, with a nature unwearied day or 
night, who can tell the greatness of the destiny 
of such a spirit, or the work of rearing it up 
for God ! Blessed be his name, he hath created 
in the mother's heart a love that can receive 
such a charge, and looking to him for assistance, 
can train up that child; and through patience 
and tears and prayers, will at last see it rise 
up and become " a star of day." 

" We cannot," said a mother to me as she 
held her infant in her arms, " we cannot go to 
Congress ; we cannot stand in the pulpit ; we 
cannot be known, we must toil at home !" 

" Cannot go to Congress !" Aye, — but if God 
had planted the same deep love of her country 
in woman's heart, that he has for her child, he 
would have committed to her hands the petty 
interests of politics and of time; but no — he 
has committed to her hands the future destiny 
of nations and of empires — all that we hold dear 
on earth, and what is more, the interests of the 



ADDRESS TO MOTHERS. 29 

soul when time shall be no more. Oh mother ! 
do not mourn over your lot — that the distinc- 
tions of earth are not yours, — that the honors 
of men are not yours — you have interests com- 
mitted to your hands too sacred to be polluted 
by being mingled with the honors of this world. 
Do not grieve in secret, at times, that the in- 
scrutable wisdom of God has assigned you an 
inferior station, made your will subject to that 
of another, and made your glory to consist in 
bowing in meekness while you drink the bit- 
terest cup which humanity knows, — your chil- 
dren will bless and honor you more and more 
as they leave your roof, till they gather round 
your grave as the most sacred spot on earth, 
and God will reward you most abundantly. He 
will remember the sorrows which your heart 
could tell to none but him. 

The mother of Timothy Dwight did not know 
that she was rearing up a son who should be 
the direct means of instructing between two 
and three thousand pupils, — of forming some of 
the brightest stars that have shed their light on 
this land, and of producing writings which shall 
continue to form and mould the character of 
men for generations yet to come. 

Oh ! if the fire on our altars ever goes out, 

3* 



30 ADDRESS TO MOTHERS. 

— if ever another Jeremiah shall sing the 
funeral notes over our nation's grave, it w^ill be 
because the mothers of this land have forgotten 
their duties and their povver, and have ceased 
to baptize their offspring with prayer. In their 
inobtrusive and silent sphere of action they 
may be sustained by the peculiar and lofty 
consciousness, that in communicating the eter- 
nal principles of truth to minds created for 
immortality, they are doing what can never 
cease to be felt ; and when the kingdoms and 
empires of earth have melted away and are 
forgotten, when the eloquence and wisdom ot 
senators, with the courage of w^arriors shall 
have passed away, their labors will be known, 
and acknowledged, and eternally be seen to be 
unfolding in new and glorious results. 

The great object before the mother, then, 
is to train up her child for eternity — for the 
service and presence of God to everlasting 
ages. 

If this be the scale on which you measure, 
you have something that will sustain you at all 
times, and on all occasions. 

Do you watch your infant daughter, and 
wish her to become beautiful ? Think again. 
Of how much consequence is it, whether her 



ADDRf:SS TO MOTHERS. 31 

dress at school for a single day be beautiful or 
otherwise ? Is it any ? And is not the body 
the dress of the soul, to be worn but a dav? 

You wish your boy to be loealthy. Suppose 
him to be on a journey among strangers, of 
what consequence is it whether he travel as a 
poor man's son, or a rich man's ? The journey 
of life will soon be over, and he will never be 
asked whether he w^ere rich or poor. 

Do you wish your child to become honored 
among men?. And is it of any great conse- 
quence whether, as he passes through the 
streets, he have the applause of beggars and 
of the vile, if all the c"ood in the land will 
honor him? Let vour child have heaven 
honor him — the redeemed church, and angels, 
and Christ, and God the Father, and of what 
consequence are the honors of earth ? 

But you wish your^son to do good ! He 
will; — he will become a Newton, an Edwards, 
or a Brainerd, if God sees best, and if God 
needs his services here ; but even if he does 
not see fit to use him as an instrument of great 
good here on earth, train him up for the skies, 
and he will be used as a glorious instrument 
of promoting his honor hereafter. You may 
not rear up an apostle here, but you may rear 



32 ADDRESS TO MOTHERS. 

up an angel hereafter. You may not see him 
the object of admiration here, but hereafter 
you may see him stand among the sons of light 
at the right hand of Jesus ! 

And now the question is, how can the mother 
do this ? 

I will endeavor briefly to answer this ques- 
tion, and also a second, viz : Why she should 
try to do this ? 

1. How can the mother train up her child 
for God ? 

I reply, she must be a woman of prayer, — 
of daily, fervent, habitual prayer, — and for 
these reasons : 

(a.) She needs wisdom. 

The child must receive its first impressions 
and thoughts from its mother. She needs wis- 
dom w^hen and what and how to teach it this 
or that. She wants to know how to reach 
the mind, how to impress it, how to guide it, 
how to discipline it. We call this kind of 
wisdom skill ; but it does not come of itself. 
Nor is it inherent. But it follows in answer to 
prayer, for God onl}^ can impart that wisdom ; 
and the mother who does not seek it of him, 
may be sure she will never have it. She will 



ADDRESS TO MOTHERS. 33 

not be led to say just the right things, in just 
the right time and manner. 

(b.) The mother of all other things needs 
self 'discipline. 

Without this, how can she forego the plea- 
sures within her reach, if she leave her child 
in other hands and free herself from the re- 
sponsibility ? How can she watch over her 
child day and night, in sickness and in health, 
with a patience that never tires, and with a 
vigilance that never, for a moment, slumbers ? 
The trials which press upon a mother are con- 
stant, unremitted, and except by prayer, unal- 
leviated. Who can at all times, and under all 
circumstances, command her own temper and 
feelings, subdue and discipline her own heart, 
unless the grace of God help to subdue and 
discipline that heart ? Oh ! mother — you may 
not chide in anger, — you may not speak with 
impatience, — you may not rebuke with angry 
severity, — you may not correct in passion ! 
Your patience must never tire, your passions 
must never rise, — self-command must never for 
a moment even seem to be relaxed, — self-con- 
trol must never even falter ! This severe self- 
discipline you can seek and find only in prayer. 

c 



34 ADDRESS TO MOTHERS. 

Nothing else can give it, nothing else can re- 
tain it when given. 

(c.) The mother must he decided. 
It is not difficult to be decided, were this all : 
but to be decided and firm while the feelings 
and the voice are as soft as the notes of the 
lute, is difficult. Your child has no judgment. 
Hundreds of times every w^eek, and many times 
every day, he must be denied, and have his 
wishes and his will submit to yours. When he 
is well, you must, of necessity, be constantly 
thw^arting his inclinations, forbidding him, or 
commanding him ; and when he is sick; you 
must force him, and stand further than ever 
aloof from indulgence. Even when you feel 
that he is on the bed of death, you must con 
trol him, govern him, command him, and see 
that he obeys ! Your own decision, energy, 
and firmness, must never waver for a moment 
in his presence. While a mother's heart pleads 
for indulgence, you must have a resolution 
which will lead you to do your duty, even while 
the heart bleeds, and the eyes weep. That 
noble mother — who held her child while its 
leg was amputated, and did it with a firmness 
that he dared not resist, and wdth a tenderness 
that made him feel that she did it for his good 



ADDRESS TO MOTHERS, 85 

— who does not admire ? These*t\vo qualities, 
decision and mildness, are seldom found in man. 
He is either too stern, or too lenient. But the 
mother ! she can possess them both, and have 
them both in exercise at the same moment. 
But she must have the aid of heaven. She 
must seek it in prayer, at the foot of the throne, 
and there she loill find it. 

I could point you to a son who cherishes the 
memory of his mother as something inexpres- 
sibly dear and sacred. She was a widow, and 
he, her only son. When a young man, he said 
something or did something in the presence of 
his sister and a cousin, both young ladies, highly 
improper. His mother told him of his fault 
mildly and kindly, and requested him to make 
an apology to the girls. This he declined. She 
insisted upon it, and even laid her commands. 
He refused. She next requested him to go 
with her into his chamber in the third story. 
He complied. She then very coolly took the 
key and told him she should lock the door, and 
he would neither see her face, nor receive food, 
till he submitted. The next day she called at 
the door of the prisoner, " My son, are you 
ready to comply with my request ?' " No, 
mother." The second day, the same question 
was asked and the same answer received. The 



36 ADDRESS TO MOTHERS, 

third day, she went to the door, and says, 
** Jannes, you think by holding out thus, your 
mother will yield, and come to your terms : 
but you do not know her. I am in the path 
of duty, and I shall not yield till the timbers 
of this house decay and fall, should 1 live so 
long P' That evening he would have sent a 
message to his mother, but had no messenger. 
On the fourth day he promised to do whatever 
she required. She opened the door, and her 
paloj sickly-looking boy embraced her with 
tears, asked her pardon, and submitted to her 
requisition. He has since been seen to shed tears 
of gratitude over that decision and faithfulness, 
and to assert with the utmost confidence, that 
it was this firmness in his widowed mother that 
saved him from irrevocable ruin. 

(d.) She needs perseverance. 

The trials of a mother are constant, un- 
known, and indescribably great. One of the 
w^arriors of the age tells us that in the evening 
after a most awful battle, he went out on the 
field among the dying and the dead ; but no- 
thing affected him so much as to find an officer 
slain, and his faithful dog lying at his breast, un- 
der his cloak, and howling in his agony. This has 
been admired as a beautiful picture of faithful 
attachment; but it is nothing in comparison 



ADDRESS TO MOTHERS. 37 

with what the eye of God daily witnesses, as it 
looks down into the family circle and notices 
the thousands of mothers hanging over their 
dying children. 

The duties of the mother begin in the morn- 
ing ; they end not with the day ; they inces- 
santly call upon her till she reaches the grave. 
Others may have a respite ; others may for a 
time throw off care, and anxiety, and respon- 
sibility. But the mother can never do so. She 
must be unwearied and faithful when no eye 
sees her to applaud; must sow her seed when 
she sees no immediate prospect of a harvest; 
must expect no return and no reward for her 
labors for years, and it may be, for life. She 
can adopt no theory which is not to be reduced 
to immediate and constant practice. How can 
she have this faith, and this perseverance, 
unless she be in the habit of communion with 
God ? The Bible and prayer must be her 
strength and her weapons. With these, she 
can carry her babes through the deserts w^here 
fiery serpents beset her path, and they shall 
not be bitten. Without these, she has all the 
sorrows, anxieties, and griefs of a mother, with- 
out any thing of those consolations which God 
bestows in answer to prayer. Do you wish a 
4 



38 ADDRESS TO MOTHERS. 

wisdom that is profitable to direct, a patience 
that never forsakes you, — a firmness that never 
leaves you, — a faith that always bears you 
upward and onward, looking for your rewards 
hereafter — you must seek these by prayer. 
Without this, you can neither govern yourself, 
nor your child, nor persevere. 

The child will receive impression^s from the 
daily and hourly example of his mother, which 
will do more to form his character, than any, 
and all the instructions which you may give 
him. The example before his eyes, will, for 
several of the first years of his life, be his 
education. Now there are certain impressions 
which you should be very careful not to make 
upon your child, if you would train him up on 
the great scale of spending eternal ages in the 
service of God. 

Be careful and not lead your child to feel 
that the body is the great object for which he 
lives. 

The first impressions which the child neces- 
sarily receives, will be, that his mother consi- 
ders the body an object of great concern and 
importance. The great business of intercourse 
between the child and the mother for a num- 
ber of years, is to minister to the wants of the 



ADDRESS TO MOTHERS. 39 

body — its food, its cleanliness, its dress. How 
little does he understand that this body is only 
the house for the spirit to dwell in, and that 
in comparison with the soul, it is of no worth ! 
When you teach your child, when you pray 
with him, be careful and make the right im- 
pression as to the comparative worth of the 
soul and the body. Every child is naturally 
a sensualist. He would live to gratify the ap- 
petites of the body; and the mother, unless 
she looks well to this subject, and exercises 
very great care, will make the same impres- 
sion. I have known many children who, from 
some defect in their education in this respect, 
felt that the highest of all gratifications is that 
of indulging in certain articles of luxury. 

A second impression to be avoided is, that 
you do not lead your child to feel that any 
earthly distinction is, of itself of any value. 

How is it that the child so early learns that 
his father is a great man, and therefore he 
must be caressed and treated with deference ; 
or that his father is a rich man, and therefore 
he may take airs to himself accordingly ; or 
that his father has a house, or a store, or a 
farm, different and better than others ? Who 
made these impressions on the child ? He re- 



40 ADDRESS TO MOTHERS. 

ceived them at home — and there estimated 
their worth, hy seeing what value his parents 
placed upon them ; and he values them, and is 
vain of them, just as example has taught him 
to be. The objection is not that he knows 
these things to be yours, but that a deeper 
impression is not made ; viz, — that nothing on 
earth is of any value, except as a means with 
which to honor God. Let him see by your 
constant example, and conversation, that you 
feel that nothing but piety, or what may be 
made to promote piety on earth, is worth 
naming. The fashion of this w^orld passeth 
away; the pomp and magnificence of life, the 
glitter of wealth, and the artificial splendors 
of time, will soon be gone, and the one great 
question on which the destiny of the soul for 
eternity balances, is, have you served God in 
your day and generation ! 

A third impression to be avoided is, that 
tjou do not let your child see that you have two 
characters. 

It requires no great art to teach a child to 
be a hypocrite. Let him see his mother im- 
patient, irritable, morose when nobody but the 
family are present, and then see her face 
dressed in smiles when company are present, 



ADDRESS TO MOTHERS. 41 

and she has taught him a lesson which he will 
never forget He unconsciously draws the in- 
ference, that if a mild and pleasant character 
may be assumed whenever his mother chooses 
to assume it, so may a religious character; and 
the impression upon him is, that all your cha- 
racter is artificial, except your poor, every-day 
character. The next consequence is, that your 
religious instructions are mostly lost. Let your 
patience be exhausted, and your spirit be fret- 
ful and impatient as you put your weary child 
to bed at night, and the next moment call upon 
him to join you in acts of devotion, and he 
knows, without the power of reasoning, that 
such religion can have but a slight hold on the 
heart. Above all things, do not so live, that 
your child shall feel that all your character is 
artificial, except the poorest part of that cha- 
racter ; for this will not only teach him to be a 
hypocrite, but will shortly give him the heart 
of a little infidel. 

One more caution. If you would train up 
your child for usefulness among men, and for 
the glory of the skies hereafter, you must have 
no views ivhich are measured by a scale nar- 
rower or shorter than that of eternity. 

It is a universal law in the moral, as well 
4* 



42 ADDRESS TO MOTHERS. 

as in the natural world, that the water can 
never rise higher than its fountain. He who 
feels that it is enough for him to move in a 
very narrow circle, will not be likely to fill one 
that is very wide, or to have his influence ex- 
tensively felt Just as the Indian boy, who has 
been taught that it is enough, if he be able to 
manage a canoe, will never be likely to be 
fitted to take command of a ship. And the 
mother who feels that the great object for 
which she lives, and for which her child is to 
live, is to have its body fed and clothed and 
sheltered, and to have him a creature of this 
world, will never so train him up that the im- 
mortal spirit will be likely to make eternity 
the great object for which he lives. But what 
would you think of a teacher who should take 
your children, and whose highest aim was to 
prepare them for a single half-day's exhibition 
during the year I This single exhibition con- 
stitutes, in his view, the whole and the great 
object of education ! Would he be the man 
to educate your child 1 You say, no ! Bat 
the little exhibition which a mortal can make 
here, is not an hour, compared with that eter- 
nity which is before him. What though your 
child appeared admirably at the exhibition, 



ADDRESS TO MOTHERS. 43 

and drew many eyes upon him, yet if wholly 
unfitted for the trials, the business and the du- 
ties of life, you have paid too dear for the ex- 
hibition ; — and though your child may walk 
upon the high places of the earth, or even 
wear so dazzling a thing as a crown, it is but 
the bubble of a moment. The day of the 
soul's existence is yet to come — a day, remem- 
ber, to be spent according to its training and 
character formed here. 

I now hasten to the last question proposed, — 

Why should the mother do all this ? 

The burden imposed upon the mother, if I 
am correct, is immense ; and who hath requi- 
red this at her hand ? I reply, there are three 
special reasons, why she should cheerfully take 
all this trouble and faithfulness upon herself. 

1. It will hasten the salvation of the earth. 

Who has not reviewed the few past years 
with fear — and who can look forward without 
forebodings? Can you look at this age, and 
see the great mass of mind moved, agitated, 
and troubled, without fearing that shortly the 
agonized cry of nations, forsaken by God, will 
rend the heavens ? The foundation of society 
already shakes, and nothing but the raising up of 
generations, who, from their very cradles, shall 



44 ADDRESS TO MOTHERS. 

have the fear of God planted in their hearts, 
can anchor this, or any other nation, so that 
there shall not be a shipwreck of hopes. Arnns 
cannot do it ; wise men cannot do it ; nothing 
but Christian principles, planted in early Vik, 
can do it. No, — paper constitutions, and printed 
laws, and learned judges are all a mockery, 
under a free government, unless the mothers 
in the land do the work before their children 
leave their fire-side. 

We want self-governing men, for they only 
can do that work, w^ithout which the earth 
must continue to groan in bondage. Political 
institutions and literary institutions are of no 
avail. Standing armies are strawy when ar- 
rayed against the excited passions of a free peo- 
ple. The Republics of South America have 
been fields of blood, scenes of anarchy and 
despotism — a burlesque upon the name of Re- 
publics; and the reason is, they have no religion 
there. The brute force of arms cannot now 
hold men ; they must govern themselves, or be 
slaves. But they can never govern themselves 
til! they fear God and keep his commandments. 
We cannot save civil liberty even, — to say 
nothing of giving the Gospel to every creature 
under heaven — without men, — men, who were 



ADDRESS TO MOTHERS. 45 

nurtured amid prayer, devoted to God, and to 
the salvation of men, from their infancy. We 
need whole generations of missionaries who 
shall rise up, clothed with salvation, and pour 
the streams of mercy, which flow from the 
throne of God, over all the earth. 

Mothers ! we want your sons to stand in these 
pulpits, — which we shall soon vacate. Yours^ 
to be pillars in these churches; — yours, to 
go to the isles of the ocean ; — yours, to labor 
and die on the burning sands of Africa ; yours, 
to carry light into the dark heart of India ; 
and yours to go to the snows of the north. 
Yes! — there will, I trust, mothers read these 
pages, whose sons and daughters ought to rise 
up for God, and cry, " Here are we, send us !" 
Train them up to this service — to the holy ser- 
vice of being agents in redeeming MmD, im- 
mortal, imperishable mixd from sin and satan ! 
Train them up for the work of plucking brands 
from burning, and quenching them in the blood 
of Jesus, and seeing them become stars in the 
kingdom of God ! Thus you can, and you will 
hasten the Jubilee of the earth ; and though 
your eyes will soon close in death — yet, — from 
the foot of the throne above, you shall wel- 
come those whom you, and your children have 



46 ADDRESS TO MOTHEIlS. 

led to Jesus. Thev shall come from the east 
and the west, from the north and the south, 
and shout "grace, grace." 

Train up your child to live and act for eter- 
nity, because, 

2. This will place you high among the sons 
of light. 

You remember that the poor widow gave 
her two mites, and it was more than all that 
the rich could do. The cup of cold water, 
offered to Christ, shall be rewarded. 

But what are such offerings ? Who can 
bring an offering so rich, so costly, as the mother 
who gives her child to the service of God? She 
makes a sacrifice which no money can pur- 
chase, — which no tongue can describe ; and 
she shall have a reward proportionate to the 
gift. Oh ! what streams of joy and blessed- 
ness will for ever flow into the heart of the 
faithful mother ! Christ vi^iil own her as his 
mother, — and her sons and daughters as his 
brothers and sisters ! Was she unknown on 
earth, and vv^as the fire which she ever kept 
burning on the altar of her heart unseen by 
man ? But her reward shall be sure — she shall 
enter into the joy of her Lord. 



ADDRESS TO MOTHERS. 47 

Train up your child for eternity, then, once 
more, because, 

3. This loill place your child high in glory 
hereafter. 

In this life we can never know how many 
spirits of just men made perfect now reign in 
heaven, in consequence of the faithfulness of 
their mothers. Those now on earth, living by 
faith, and who " keep the sayings of this book," 
the most devoted men living, are those who 
have been led to Christ by a mother's love and 
faithfulness. You can hardly be aware how 
deep may be the impression which you may 
make on the mind of your child, even in a very 
few moments of time. For one, I can truly 
say, I have never met with any loss so great, 
as that of losing the care and instructions of 
my mother during my childhood, in consequence 
of her having lost her reason. But I can re- 
collect that w^hen a very little child, I was 
standing at the open window, at the close of a 
lovely summer's day. The large, red sun was 
just sinking away behind the western hills ; 
the sky was gold and purple commingled ; — the 
winds were sleeping, and a soft, solemn stillness 
seemed to hang over the earth. I was watch- 
ing the sun as he sent his yellow rays through 



48 ADDRESS TO MOTHERS. 

the trees, and felt a kind of awe, though 1 
knew not wherefore. Just then nny mother 
came to me. She was raving with phrenzy, — 
for reason had long since left its throne — and 
her, a victim of madness. She came up to me, 
wild with insanity. I pointed to the glorious 
sun in the west, — and in a moment she w^as 
calm ! She took my little hands within hers 
and told me that * the great God made the sun, 
the stars, the world — every thing : — that he it 
was who made her little boy, and gave him an 
immortal spirit ; that yonder sun, and the green 
fields and the world itself will one day be 
burned up; but that the spirit of her child 
will then be alive — for he must live when hea- 
ven and earth are gone ; that he must pray to 
the great God, and love and serve him for ever!' 
She let go my hands, — madness returned, — 
she hurried av^^ay. I stood with my eyes filled 
with tears, and my little bosom heaving with 
emotions which I could not have described ; but 
I can never forget the impressions which that 
conversation of my poor mother left upon me ! 
Oh! what a blessing would it have been, had 
the inscrutable providence of God given me a 
mother who could have repeated these instruc- 
tions, accompanied by her prayers, through all 



ADDRESS TO MOTHERS. 49 

the days of my childhood! But — "even so 
Father, for so it seemeth good in thy sight !" 

There is a gift which the mother can bestow 
— the richest in the universe of God. She can- 
not give her child earthly distinctions ; — she 
cannot say that earthly blessings shall be his, — 
but she can do more; — she can place a crown 
of life upon his head, and see him shine forth 
in the kingdom of God, as the sun in the firma- 
ment, for ever and ever ! 

Mothers ! if when the sorrows of life shall 
be over, when the fashions of this world shall 
have passed away, — when the sea shall be 
dried up, — if you may stand on mount Zion 
above, with your children around you, able to 
say, " Here, Father, am I, and here are the chil- 
dren which thou hast given me, — of those whom 
thou gavest to me have I lost none," and shall 
hear him say, " Well done, good and faithful ser- 
vant, thou hast been faithful" — would you ex- 
change that hour for all that ever entered into 
the heart of man ? Take these children, then, 
and train them up for God, and all this, and a 
thousand fold more shall be yours for ever! 

Will my reader permit me before we part 
to ask her to go with me to yonder chamber. 

The house is still, — the curtains are drawn, — 



50 ADDRESS TO MOTHERS. 

the world is shut out, and they are waiting for 
the dark messenger. 

Who is that pale one on the couch of death, 
calmly breathing her soul out in prayer ? The 
eye of faith is bright, clear, steady. Hope 
spreads her wings, — the house of clay shakes, 
«and the spirit is preparing to mount upwards. 

Who are those who stand around the bed, 
weeping and yet rejoicing ? Do you not know 
them ? That son is a minister of the gospel, 
and has come to catch the mantle of his dying 
mother. That other son is a devoted, distin- 
guished member of Christ's kingdom; and 
these daughters are all polished stones in the 
living temple of God. She has committed 
them to God; and she has prayed for those 
other children, who are laboring for Christ, far 
away among the heathen. This was a faith- 
ful mother. She trained her children up for 
God. 

She has now done with prayer; the song 
of praise begins, and she hears her Savior 
call, " Come up hither !" The eye closes, the 
heart is still, — and the spirit goes "straight 
up !" And who is that angel, and that cherub, 
who meet her ransomed spirit, and lead it to 
the Lamb ? These are those children whom 



ADDRESS TO MOTHERS. 51 

she laid in the grave years ago, amid many 
tears! She now reaches the throne, — sees 
the Redeemer, and now the sweet song of love 
breaks from her hps, — ''My soul doth magnify 
the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God 
my Savior ! For he hath regarded the low 
estate of his handmaiden ; for behold, from 
henceforth all generations shall call me 
blessed. For he that is mighty hath done to 
me great things, and holy is his name. And 
his mercy is on them that fear him from gene- 
7*ation to generation.''^ 

Come back now to earth, and leave what 
we cannot comprehend. Let her generation 
pass away ; let all generations of men rise up 
and pass away like shadows; let the earth 
itself flee away, — the heavens and the uni- 
verse, all depart. Let ages, ten thousand times 
ten thousand ages pass away, and once more 
let us go and look in upon that bright multi- 
tude ! Do you see that burning seraph, — the 
spirit that hangs upon the Redeemer's looks, — 
the spirit that glows and pours out the song so 
loud, so sweet, so unceasing ? It is the same 
spirit, who, ages before, laid the foundation for 
all this, by being a faithful mother w^hile on 
earth ! Her rewards are ever fresh from the 



52 ADDRESS TO MOTHERS. 

hand of the Savior, and to eternity they un- 
ceasingly increase. 

Mothers ! if in this short interview, I have 
said anything that will meet the approbation 
of Christ, I believe it will do you good ; if 
anything contrary to his will, I pray that i< 
may be pardoned. If what I have said shall 
quicken one of you in duty, lead you to one 
degree more of faithfulness, I shall feel that I 
have not addressed you in vain. 

In the volume, and perhaps volumes, which 
follow, I have endeavored to aid you in the 
great work of training up your child for God, 
by aiding you to teach him the great truths 
of revealed religion, A more difficult work 
could not well be undertaken ; but I hope it is 
so written that you will approve of it; and 
when He, who is the believer's life, shall ap- 
pear to make up his jewels, I hope that we 
and our dear children shall rejoice together. 



LECTURES. 

51^ (53) 



CHARACTER OF GOD. 
LECTURE I. 

IS THERE ANY GODI 



"Even a child is known by his doings." — Prov. xx.ll. 



Can a child reason ] — Bolted door — New Book — 
The Text -— Family Visit -- Dead Brother — How to 
know about him — Pond — Bridge — Mill — Boat — Yard 
— Garden — Room — Sister's Treasures — Father's care 
-^Application of the Story — How we know about God 
— Two hard words used — Explained — Boy's hammer — 
Girl's doll — Greenlander reasoning — His Kajak — The 
Shipwreck — Marks on the sand — Reasoning — Barn on 
fire — The universe — What is chance? — Its folly des- 
cribed — Story of man cast away — His Island — Sees 
something — Description of it — Reasoning about it — A 
dialogue about it — Conclusion of the story — Beautiful 
House — Steps — Windows — Walls — Paintings — Not 
done by chance — Homer — His Poems — Arab's stories — 
City in the Desert — Curious story of Columbus — Heap 
of watches — Heathen can know about God — Four rc- 

55 



56 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. I. 

Can a child reason ? 

marks — First remark — Second remark — Third remark 
— Last remark. 

THE SEQUEL. 

Letter to Mr. Todd— The answer. 

The curious dream — Hafed — His beautiful home — 
His family — White Peacock — Death of his wife — Death 
of his children — His wicked wish — His garden — A 
new world — Inhabitant — Dialogue — Description of the 
chance world — A chance-man — His eyes — A chance- 
sister — A young lady — Her features — A chance-duel 
— A chance-wound — Chance-cattle — A chance-herd — 
The happy owner — A chance-sun — Measuring time — A 
misfortune — A house in the chance-world — A chance- 
feast — Effects of heat — Hafed's reflections — Hafed 
awakes — His views altered — Conclusion — Spectamur 
AGENDO— Lines on hearing this Lecture. 

Can a child reason ? I do not ask if 
he can reason as well as a learned man 
or a judge ; I know he cannot, any more 
than he can lift as much as a strong 
man. No little boy here can take a 
book and lift it up as high as a tall man, 
— but he can lift it up as far as he can 
reach, just as well as the tallest man in 



Lect L] IS THERE ANY GOD? 57 

Bolted door New Book. 

the world. Just so a child can reason, 
as far as his mind understands, as well 
as the wisest man living. Can I not 
make this plain ? Suppose one of these 
boys should go to his bed to-night, and 
before he knelt down in prayer, should 
bolt his door. He says his evening 
prayer to God alone. He then places 
the lamp on the table and goes to rest. 
In the morning he finds a beautiful new 
book, with his name written in it, on his 
table by the side of the lamp. He now 
looks to see if the bolt is drawn back. 
He finds it is. Did he draw it back last 
night after he had prayed ? He tries to 
recollect, but cannot. Was the book 
there when he went to bed? No: he 
remembers there was nothing on the 
table but the lamp, and he remembers it 



58 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. I. 

Bolted door New Book. 

because he thought that nothing could 
be set on fire by the lamp. He now 
reasons about it, and concludes, that as 
the book was not there when he went 
to bed, and as somebody must have put 
it there, and as no one could get in if 
he had left the door bolted, therefore, 
he himself must have drawn the bolt 
back, though he has forgotten doing it. 
This is reasoning. 

Now, every child can reason in this 
way, and I wish all these children to 
keep this in mind, because I am going 
to reason, and to talk to you in such a 
way that you too must reason, if you 
would understand what I say. Try, now, 
to see if you cannot reason, and I will 
try to make it all very plain. 

Let us now slowly read over the text. 



Lect. I.] IS THERE ANY GOD ? 59 

The text Family visit Dead Brother. 

"Even a child is known by his 
doings." 

What does this mean ? 

Suppose you go with your parents to 
visit a family who are particular friends 
of your parents. The two families have 
not met for many years, and you were 
never there before. 

You reach the end of your journey, 
and find the family made up of the fa- 
ther, mother, and two little girls. They 
are all dressed in black, and tell you 
with tears, that they are sorrowing for 
an only son who has just been buried. 
They tell you he was a lovely boy of 
about fifteen years of age. Their hearts 
were set upon him, their hopes concern- 
ing him were high, and strong ; but in 
an hour he was cut down by death like 



60 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Led. I. 

How to know about him Pond Bridge. 

a beautiful flower, — and is gone away 
for ever from this world. 

You never saw this boy, you never 
knew him; all that you know is, that 
this was his home, and that his new- 
made grave is up on yonder green hill- 
side. But you look around from day to 
day, and admire many things you see. 

You go out and find a little pond full 
of ducks, old and young. "What a 
beautiful pond !" you say. " My son," 
says the weeping father, " planned that 
pond, and he got the eggs and raised 
those ducks. See ! they are coming to 
have you feed them under the tree w^here 
he used to feed them !" 

You pass over a pretty foot-bridge. 
" My son made that bridge," says the 
father. 



Lect. I.] IS THERE ANY GOD? 61 

Mill Boat Yard Garden. 

A little further down the stream you 
find a dam across the brook, a water- 
fall, and a mimic mill all in motion, to 
add to the beauty of the walk. 

You see a little boat moored by the 
side of the pond, just large enough to 
play upon that little basin of water. 

You turn back and look into a little 
yard where are all kinds of fowls. 

The father comes up, and you are not 
surprised to hear him say, " My son did 
all this !" 

You go into the garden and find one 
corner dressed with great care and 
neatness. It has flowers, a grape-vine, 
many roses in full blossom. At once 
you know that this was his corner. 

You now turn back to the house, go 

up stairs, and there you find a little 
6 



62 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. 1 

Room ,,. Sisters* Treasures. 

room fitted up with shelves and books. 
The walls are hung with drawings and 
maps. The little table has papers and 
books on it. There is a small bed, a 
stove for cold weather, a box for the 
wood, a flute on the shelf, and every- 
thing in beautiful order. The dog lies 
in one corner on an old cloak, and will 
hardly leave the room. Do you need 
to have the father come and say, "This 
was my son's room?" 

The httle girls ask you to go and see 
their treasures. There are their small 
book-cases, one for each, their little 
tables, their stools and boxes. They 
tell you their brother William made 
them all before he died. 

Can you not now, children, under- 
stand my text? — "even a child is 



Lect. I.] IS THERE ANY GOD ? 63 

Father's Care. 

known by his doings?" Can you not 
now mourn with these parents who 
have lost such a son, and these sisters 
who have lost such a brother? 

The mother places her feet upon the 
stool w^hich he made for her comfort. 
The father w^alks with the cane which 
he bought out of his small purse. The 
animals are fed and sheltered in houses 
which he built for them. Do you won- 
der that this family are in deep sorrow ? 
Have you any more doubts that such a 
son was living there, than if you had 
seen him, and seen him do all these 
things ? Do you not begin to love him 
for what he has done ? Certainly ; — 
for "even a child is known by his 
doings," and you judge of him by what 
you see. 



64 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. I 

Application of the story How we know about God. 

Now it is exactly in this way that we 
know there is a GOD. 

We have never seen him, seen his 
shape, nor heard his voice; yet it is 
just as certain that there is a God as if 
we saw him every moment. Indeed, 
you could not see God with your eyes, 
for he is a spirit. When you look at a 
man, it is not the soul, the spirit, the 
man^ which you see, but only the house, 
— the body in which the soul lives. The 
body moves, or speaks, or does some- 
thing. And if God should show him- 
self to you, it would be a body in which 
he dwelt, and not God himself. So that 
when you see what God has done^ you 
are just as certain there is a God, as if 
you saw him doing the things. 

But I must now use two hard words. 



Lectl.] IS THERE ANY GOD? 65 

Two hard words used .... Explained .... Boy's hammer. 

Will you try to keep up and understand 
them ? The two words are, Cause and 
Effect. But I will make them easy to 
be understood. 

You all know that when any thing is 
done, somebody, or something must do 
it. If a ball rolls on the ground, some- 
thing must make it roll. If a pin drops, 
its weight must make it drop. If a gun 
goes off, there must be poAvder in it to 
make it go ; and if powder burns, there 
must be fire to make it burn. Every- 
body knows this, and feels this ; and 
this is what I mean. That which does 
any thing, is the cause ; and that which 
15 done^ is the eflfect. Give a very little 
boy a hammer, and he strikes and makes 
a noise. He does it a second time, and 
he is just as sure that the noise will 

6* E 



66 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. I. 

Girl's doll Greenlander's reasoning. 

follow the second blow, as an old man 
would be. The little gh'l is just as sure 
that somebody made her doll, as if she 
had seen it made ; and children always 
ask, who did this thing, and who did 
that thing, — and they know that every 
effect must have a cause. Now see 
what I am ^oing to do with this cause 
and effect. 

The Greenlanders are a very ignorant 
people. They eat seals, and whale-oil, 
and raw fish, and anything, and seem 
almost to be men-fish. But even they 
know that somebody must have made 
all the things which they see. One of 
them said these very words to a mis- 
sionary. 

" It is true we were ignorant heathens, 
and knew httle of God till you came. 



Lect I.] IS THERE ANY GOD? 67 

His kajak. 

But you must not think that no Green- 
lander thinks about these things. A 
kajak, (Greenland boat) with all its 
tackle and implements, cannot exist, but 
by the labors of man. But the forma- 
tion of the meanest bird requires more 
skill than the best kajak, and no man 
can make a bird. There is still more 
skill required to make a man. But by 
whom was he made ? He proceeded 
from his parents, and they from their 
parents, and whence did they proceed ? 
Common report says they grew out of 
the ground. If so, why do not men 
grow out of the ground still? And 
w^hence came the earth itself, the sun, 
the moon, and the stars? Certainly 
there must be some Being w^ho made 
all these things — a Being more wise 



68 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. I. 

The shipwreck Marks on the sand Reasoning 

than the wisest man." So the poor, 
ignorant Greenlander thought, and felt, 
and reasoned. 

Just so learned men think and feel. 
A great ship was once dashed to pieces 
in a storm, on an island. There was a 
learned man on board by the name of 
Aristippus. The people of the ship all 
expected to be torn in pieces by wild 
beasts, or murdered by savages. But 
on the sand of the sea-shore, Aristippus 
found some rude figures drawn, or 
marked out, — such figures as are used in 
studying mathematics. "Let us take 
courage, my friends," he cried out in joy, 
" for I see the marks of civilized men !" 

Now, how came he to think that men 
made these marks in the sand ? Why 
did he not think that the winds or the 



Lect. I.] IS THERE ANY GOD ? 69 

Barn on fire. 

waves of the sea made these marks? 
Why did he not think that a bird made 
them with his claws, or a lion with his 
paw ? Or why not think that a savage 
made them with the end of his bow ? 
Because, this learned man knew that 
there must be some cause for these 
figures: and because they were so 
round, or square, or true, he knew that 
they must be made by some man who 
had been educated and taught. This 
is the feehng of everybody all over the 
world. If you were to look out of 
your chamber window in a dark night 
and see a barn in flames, you know that 
somebody must have carried fire into it. 
If you travel and find a man murdered 
in the road, you know that somebody 
must be the murderer. We never see 



70 CHARACTER OF GOD- [Lect. 1. 

The universe What is chance ? 

anything done, when somebody or 
something did not do it. And if a man 
should say that he had seen a house 
rise up out of the ground, built by no- 
body, we should say, it cannot be ; that 
man must either Jiave lost his reason, 
or be a great liar. 

We know that something, or some* 
body, must have made the sun, the 
moon, the stars, the world in which we 
live, the mountains and hills, the oceans 
and rivers, the trees and the flowers, the 
men and the animals. I sa}^ somebody 
or something must have made all these. 

But did they not all come by chance ? 

By chance ! And what is chance ? I 
have heard some few people talk about 
chance, as if there were no God, and as 
if all things were made by chance ! It 



Lect. I.] IS THERE ANY GOD? 71 

Its folly described . . Story of the man cast away . . His island. 

is curious to know, that these people 
do not pretend that chance has done 
any thing else, except the most wonder- 
ful of all things — that of creating all 
things ! Now lest when you grow older 
some wicked man may try to make you 
think that chance could do all these 
things, I want to talk a little about it, 
and make it plain to you. 

Suppose I could find one of these 
wise-feeling men, who say there is no 
God, on a desert island, all alone. He 
was cast away in the ship and left there 
in a storm, when all were drowned, 
except himself. He has built him a lit- 
tle house of stones and dirt ; he sits at 
the door and looks oflf on the waters as 
far as the eve can reach, and sees no- 
thing but the dark-blue sea, and the hea- 



72 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. 1. 

Sees something Description of it. 

vens, and the sun rising up out of the 
waters in the morning, and again going 
down, yellow as gold, into the waters 
at evening. I say to him, 

" Sir, do you see that little white spot 
on the face of the great waters, far off 
to the right hand ?" 

"Yes, I see it." 

" Well, it is a ship. It grows as we 
gaze. The sails are spread, and it 
looks like a ship. See ! the streamer 
hangs at the mizzen-mast, the flag hangs 
over the taffrail, and the tapering masts 
shoot far up towards the sky. She 
bounds on from wave to wave, — fleet as 
the Arab's horse. She obeys the helm, 
— she comes up by the island, the sails 
drop, the anchors plunge from her bow, 
and she pauses and sits like a beautiful 



Lect. I.] IS THERE ANY GOD ? 73 

Reasoning about it. 

bird upon the waters. Do you see all 
this, Sir?" 

'^Yes, yes, I see it all." 

" What makes the tear stand in your 
eye, and why does your heart throb 
so?" 

" Why, don't you see that form on 
the waters, — that beautiful ship?" 

" Yes, I am astonished at seeing 
what chance can do ! Only see there ! 
The wood grew into the shape of that 
ship by chance. It fell into the water 
and floated away. The grass and weeds 
around the wood took the shape of 
ropes, shrouds, haul-yards, and also of 
sails. That is not a real ship. Sir, it is 
only the work of chance /" 

" Why," says this believer in chance, 
" I thought that it was a ship, and that 
7 



74 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Led. L 



4. dialogue about it 



me?! are in it, and that I should go away 
in it to my home, and leave this gloomy 
island for ever." 

" Oh, no ! Sir, you are mistaken. 
There are no marks of design about 
that thing. It is all the work of chance. 
No mind ever planned it." 

" But I see masts and shrouds, the 
bow-sprit and the yards !" 

" Yes, but it is^ all the work of chance ! 
It grew so by chance /" 

" But I hear music, and know those 
to be the tunes of my own dear coun- 
try !" 

" No ! that is the wind w^bistling 
through the ropes, and by chance it 
strikes the ropes so as to give the sound 
of the drum, the fife, and the bugle; 
and then the wind changes a httle, and 



Lect. I.j IS THERE ANY GOD ? 75 

Conclusion of the story. 

another tune follows. But it is all by 
chance! Those flags, with stars and 
stripes on them, are all the work of 
chance !" 

"Now, don't try to make me believe 
that any longer. I know that to be a 
ship, built by men^ ^^igg^d and managed 
by men, just as well as if I had seen 
every stick of her timbers hewed, and 
every plank laid. There is no chance 
about it!" 

And yet, such men pretend that men 
who can build the ship ; — the wood and 
iron of which she is built, the waters on 
which she sails, and the winds which 
move her, are all the work of chance ! 
Do not even these children see how 
weak and foohsh this is? 

But suppose you go with one of these 



76 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. 1. 

Beautiful house Steps Windows Walls. 

believers in chance, on some pleasant 
day. He tells you that he is now going 
to show you what chance can do. 

You follow him up stairs, into a long 
and a high room. As you go up the 
steps, he begins to talk to you. 

"Do you see these beautiful stone 
steps ? They were all laid so by chance ! 
No, not laid so, but happened to be so. 
This long room was made by chance. 
These windows happened so, and they 
are very convenient. These walls, you 
see, are all hung round with paintings 
and pictures ; — no — not hung round, — 
for that means design, but the walls are 
covered with colors, all thrown on by 
chance. How beautiful ! Now let me 
point out, and show you what wonders 
chance can do ! Do you see that corner?" 



LectL] IS THERE ANY GOD? 77 

Paintings Not done by chance. 

" Yes," you say, " I see a beautiful 
likeness of Washington." 

" Well, do you see that ?" 

" Yes, I see a picture of Buonaparte, 
by the side of one of George III. And 
along yonder, I see the likeness of all 
the Presidents of the United States. 
There is a child with a fawn. There is 
a landscape ! — there a shipwreck ; — and 
there a harvest -field full of reapers! 
What a beautiful gallery of paintings ' 
Who did paint all these ?" 

" Paint all these ! Why I tell you 
nobody. No miiid ever made these ! 
They are all the work of Wind chance ! 
You know that colors must exist some- 
where ; — no — I do not mean must^ but 
they do exist somewhere and somehow, 

and so they happened by chance to take 

7* 



78 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. I 



Homer His poems. 

these forms, and make these pictures ! 
Can you not behcve this ?" 

" No, no," you say, " no human be- 
ing can believe this story." 

Now, how can any one ever pretend, 
that the mind of man, which could paint 
all these things, and that these things, 
which are here only copied in this room, 
could be made by chance ? 

There was a man who lived a great 
while ago, whose name was Homer. 
He wrote several long poems. We 
have these poems now, all printed ; and 
to print them correctly, we must use 
more than nine millions of letters and 
characters. Each one of these nine 
million must be just in its place, or there 
is a mistake. Now suppose you should 
pick up these poems in a field, far away 



Lect. l.J IS THERE ANY GOD? 79 



Arab's stories City in the desert. 

from any house ; who could beh'eve that 
chance printed and laid that book there ? 
No. And yet all this might be done 
by chance, easier than the world and 
all things in it, could be made by chance ! 

The Arabs are great story-tellers. 
They tell about beautiful cities spring- 
ing up in deserts, or in the caverns of 
the ocean ; and about palaces of gold 
and silver, — beautiful beyond what can 
be told; but they never pretend that 
these are made by chance : they say 
they are made by fairies, or genii, or bad 
spirits. 

Suppose you were traveling through 
a desert, and all at once should come 
into a beautiful city, without finding a 
single man, woman, or child, in it. You 
pass along the street and see a palace, 



so CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. I 

Curious story of Columbus. 

a temple, a court-house, a prison, long 
streets with paved side-walks, carriages, 
shops, and markets, and every thing 
belonging to a city. Could you doubt 
that it was built by somebody ? You 
could not say that those who reared 
these buildings were white or black, tall 
or short ; but you would say that some- 
body must have marked out these streets, 
reared these buildings, and planned the 
whole city. You could not believe 
otherwise. 

Shall I tell you of a curious fact? 

It is said that a small weed was once 
picked up on the beach of the Azores. 
Nobody ever saw one like it, and nobody 
could tell where the weed grew. Why 
did they not say, it grew nowhere, and 
was thiown upon the shore by chance ? 



Lect. L] IS THERE ANY GOD ? 81 

Heap of Watches Heathen can know about God. 

No, they knew it must grow somewhere ; 
and as it was unknown, it must come 
from an unknown country; and this 
simple fact, it is said, first led Christo- 
pher Columbus to believe in the existence 
of the American world! What if he 
had thrown away common sense, and 
beheved in chance? 

Were one watch taken to pieces, and 
all the wheels shown to you, you would 
say, it is plain that somebody must have 
made it ; and if all the watches in the 
world were gathered together into one 
heap, we should all say, " all these 
could not be made by chance ! Some- 
body must have made them !" 

It is in this way that the Apostle Paul 
says, in the first chapter of Romans, 
the heathen are without any excuse for 



82 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. I 

Four remarlcs First remark. 

not knowing and obeying God : for the 
things which are seen all around us, 
"declare his eternal power and God- 
head." 

You now see, dear children, why I 
believe there is a God, and why your 
parents believe it — because somebody 
must have made every thing. 

I shall now close this Lecture with 
four short remarks: 

1. That as there is a God w^ho made 
all things, that book which will tell all 
about him, must be a very interesting 
book. Who would not like to see the 
man who made the first watch, or who 
built the first ship, or the first steam- 
boat? Who would not like to see a 
likeness of David, or of Jesus Christ ? 
So, I doubt not, you will be interested 



Lect. I.] IS THERE ANY GOD ? 83 

Second remark Third remark. 

in these Lectures which I am about to 
preach, about the character of God. 

2. As there certainly is a God, we 
ought to know as much about him as 
possible. I want you should, therefore, 
carefully hear these Lectures about God, 
and then compare what I say with the 
Bible, and ask God in prayer, to help 
you to know more and more about him. 

3. As God is the greatest Being, and 
the greatest thing about which we can 
think, so it will help to strengthen, and 
stretch, and cultivate the mind, every 
time we think of him. The men who 
think much about God, are always very 
intelligent men. 

4. That as you will find God the best 
Being about whom you can think, so to 
think much about him will make you 



84 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. I. 

Last remark. 

good. People who read and think 
much about God, are the best people in 
the world. 

May the great God bless you, my 
dear children, while you hear or read, 
or think about Him, and bless me while 
I try to make Him known to you " by 
his doings," Amen. 



SEQUEL 



TO 



LECTURE I. 



The morning following the delivery of the 
above Lecture, I received from one of my lit- 
tle friends the following letter : 

Mr. Todd — 

Respected Sir : — When you told us in 
your Lecture yesterday about God, it all seemed 
plain to me except one thing ; and that is, I 
don't see why it would be so very impossible to 
have things, — some things, I mean, come right 
and be right by chance. 

Will you please to explain this, and make 
it more plain to me 1 

This will greatly oblige 

Your young friend, 

•I. B* 

(85) 
8 



86 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. I. 

Hafed's dream Hafed's beautiful home. 

In reply to my little friend J. B., I will first 
ask him to read Hafed's Dream, which is the 
best answer I can write for him ; and then to 
read the lines which follow, and which w^ere 
sent to me by a friend who says they were 
suggested by the above Lecture. 



HAFED'S DREAM. 

At the foot of one of those gigantic 
mountains in Asia, which lift up their 
heads so far above the clouds that the 
eye of man never saw their summits, 
stood a beautiful cottage, facing the 
east. The mountain stream leaped and 
murmm-ed on the north; the verdant plain 
where the bright-eyed gazelle sported, 
lay spread out in front ; the garden and 
the olive-yard, filled with every flower 



Lect. I.] IS THERE ANY GOD? 87 

His family — son and daughter. 

and every fruit which an oriental sun 
could pencil and ripen, lay on the south ; 
while back, on the west, rose the ever- 
lasting mountain. Here were walks 
and shades and fruits, such as were 
found nowhere else. The sun shone 
upon no spot more luxuriant ; the moon- 
beams struggled to enter no place more 
delightful; and the soft wings of the 
breezes of evening fanned no such 
abode in all the east. The howl of the 
wolf was never heard here ; the sly fox 
never came here to destroy ; and here 
the serpent's hiss was never heard. 

This cottage was the home of Hafed, 
the aged and the prosperous. He 
reared this cottage; he adorned this 
spot ; and here for more than four-score 
years, he had lived and studied. During 



88 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. I 

White peacock. 

all this time, the sun had never forgot- 
ten to visit him daily ; the harvest had 
never failed, the pestilence had never de- 
stroyed, and the mountain-stream had 
never dried up. The wife of his youth 
still lived to cheer and bless him ; and 
his son and daughter were such as were 
not to be found in all that Province. 
No youth could rein the horse, hurl the 
javelin, chase the lion, or delight the 
social circle, hke this son. No daugh- 
ter of kings could be found so beautiful 
and perfect, as was this daughter, wath 
an eye so bright and joyous, and a form 
so symmetrical, as hers. 

But who can ensure earthly hap- 
piness ? In one short week, Hafed w^as 
stripped of all his joys. 

His wife w^ent to see a new white 



LecL I.] IS THERE ANY GOD? 89 

Death of his wife Death of his children. 

peacock, which it was said a neighbor, 
who hved a mile off in the ravine, had 
just brought home. She took cold, and 
a quick fever followed ; and on her re- 
turn, Hafed saw that she must die. 
Before two days were gone, the old man 
was standing at her open grave. He 
gazed long, and said impatiently — 
" Cover her, — cover the only woman 
that I ever loved !" 

The son and the daughter both re- 
turned from the burial of their mother, 
fatigued and sick. The nurse gave 
them, as she thought, a simple medicine. 
In a few hours it was found to be poi- 
son. Hafed saw that they must die ; — 
for the laws of nature are fixed, and 
poison kills. He buried them in one 

wide, deep grave, and it seemed as it 

8* 



90 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. L 

His wicked wish. 

.n that grave he buried his reason and 
his rehgion. He tore his grey hair, — 
he cursed the hght of day, and wished 
tile moon turned into blood ; and above 
all, he blasphemed his God, declaring 
that the laws which he had estabhshed 
were all wrong, useless, and worse than 
none. He wished the world were 
governed by chance ; but as this was a 
hopeless wish, he wished that at his 
death he might go to a world where 
there was no God to fix unalterable 
laws. He arraigned the wisdom of 
God in his government over this world, 
declaring that his plans were weak, and 
worse than none, and that it would be 
far better to have no God in the uni- 
verse ! 

In the centre of Hafed's garden stood 



Lect I.] IS THERE ANY GOD ? 91 

His garden. 

a large, beautiful Palm-tree. Under it 
was Hafed sitting, the second evening 
after closing the grave over his children. 
The seat on which he sat had been 
reared by his son. On the leaf of the 
tree which lay before him, were some 
exquisite verses written by the pencil of 
his daughter. Before him lay the beau- 
tiful country covered with green, sprin- 
kled here and there, as far as the eye 
could see, with the habitations of men, 
and upon this great landscape the sha- 
dows of the mighty mountains w^ere 
now setting. In the east, the moon was 
just pushing up her modest face, and 
the gold of day was softening into the 
silver of night. While Hafed looked on 
all this, grief began to swell in his 
throat ; his tongue murmured ; his heart 



92 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect 1. 



His sleep A new world Inhabitant. 

was full of hard thoughts of God, which 
nearly amounted to blasphemy. 

As the night deepened, Kafed, as he 
then thought, fell asleep with a heavy 
heart. When he supposed he awoke, 
it was in a new spot. The mountain, 
the landscape, the home, were all gone. 
All was new. 

As he stood wondering where he was, 
he saw a creature approaching him, 
which, at first, he mistook for a baboon ; 
but on its coming near, he discovered 
that it was a creature somewhat re- 
sembling a man, but every way mal- 
formed, ill-shaped, and monstrous. 

He came up and walked around Ha- 
fed as he would a superior being, 
exclaiming, "beautiful, beautiful crea- 
ture !" 



Lect I.] IS THERE ANY GOD? 93 

Dialogue. 

" Shame, shame on thee !" said Ha- 
fed; "dost thou treat a stranger thus 
with insults ? Leave off thy jests, and 
tell me where I am, and how I came 
here !" 

" I do not know how you came here, 
but here you are in our world, which 
we call chance-world^ because everything 
happens here by chance." 

" Ah ! is it so ? This must be de- 
lightful ! This is just the world for me. 
Oh i had I always lived here, my beau- 
tiful children would not have died under 
a foolish and inexorable law ! Come, 
show me this world, — for I long to see 
it. But have ye really no God, nor any 
one to make laws and govern you just 
as he sees fit?" 

"I don't know what you mean by 



94 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect, I. 

Description of the chance-world. 

God: we have nothing of that kind 
here, — nothing but chance ; but go with 
me, and you will understand all about 
it." 

As they proceeded, Hafed began to 
notice that everything looked queer and 
odd. Some of the grass was green, 
some red, some white, some new, and 
some dying ; some grew with the top 
downward ; all kinds were mingled to- 
gether ; and on the whole, the sight was 
very painful. He stopped to examine 
an orchard; here chance had been at 
work. On a fine-looking apple-tree, he 
saw no fruit but large, coarse cucum- 
bers. A small peach-tree was breaking 
down under its load of gourds. Some 
of the trees were growing with their 
tops downwards, and the roots branch- 



Lect 2] IS THERE ANY GOD? 95 

A chance-man. 

ing out into the air. Here and there 
were great holes dug, by which some* 
body had tried to get down twenty or 
thirty feet, in order to get the fruit. 
The guide told Hafed that there was no 
certainty about these trees; and you 
could never tell what fruit a tree would 
happen to bear. The tree which this 
year bears cucumbers, may bear pota- 
toes next year, and perhaps you would 
have to dig twenty feet for every pota^ 
toe you obtained. 

They soon met another of the 
" chance-men." His legs were very 
unequal in length, one had no knee, and 
the other no ankle. His ears were set 
upon his shoulders, and around his 
head was a thick, black bandage. He 
came groping his way, and Hafed at once 



06 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. I. 

His eyes. 

asked him how long since he had lost 
his sight? 

" I have not lost it,'' said he ; " but 
when I was born, my eye-balls happen- 
ed to be turned in instead of out, and 
the back parts being outward, are very 
painful in the light, and so I put on a 
covering.'' 

" Well, but canst thou see any thing ? 
Methinks thou mayest see strange 
things within^" 

'• True, but the difSculty is to get any 
light in there. I have contrived various 
ways to do so, — have had it poured into 
my ears and nose ; but all will not do. 
Yet I am as well off as others. My 
brother has one good eye on the top of 
his head ; but he only looks directly up 
with it to the clouds ; and the sun al- 



Lect. I.] IS THERE ANY GOD ? 97 

A chance-sister. 

most puts it out. He shuts it most of 
the time during the day; but it hap- 
ens to be one of those eyes that will 
not stay shut, and so when he sleeps the 
flies trouble him badly. 1 have a sister 
who has nineteen eyes in her head ; but 
they are a vexation. She sees eighteen 
things too many. Even now she can't 
realize that she has not nineteen fathers, 
and as many mothers. She goes to 
bed, and falls on the floor nineteen 
times at least before she gets in. She 
goes to drink, and sees nineteen cups, 
and knows not which is the real cup. 
But so it happened, and she is as well 
oflf as most in this "chance-world." 
But, after all, it 's a glorious world, I 
do assure you." 

" Wonderful," said Hafed, 

9 G 



98 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. I. 

A young lady Her features. 

As they proceeded a little further, 
they met a young lady. 

" That young lady," said the guide, 
"is the greatest beauty in all these 
parts. All our young men are bewitch- 
ed by her ; and there have been no less 
than twenty duels on her account al- 
ready. You will be amazed at seeing 
a being so perfect." 

As they met, Hafed stared more fully 
than is usually considered polite among 
the orientals. The beauty had a face 
not altogether unlike a human face, ex- 
cepting that the mouth was under the 
chin, the eyes looked separate ways, 
and the color of the hair was a mix- 
ture of red, light-blue, white and yel- 
low. One foot had the heel forward, 
and one arm was altogether wanting. 



Lect. L] IS THERE ANY GOD ? 99 

A chance-duel. 

" Wonderful, wonderful truly," cried 
Hafed. "Twenty duels! But I hope 
they were not all killed, were they ?'' 

Here the beauty began to ogle and 
mince in her steps most enchantingly. 

" Killed !" said the guide ; " you seem 
to know nothing about us. They all 
met and fought together ; but as every 
thing goes here by chance, it is not 
often that we can get our powder to 
burn. In this case only one got his gun 
off at all, and that did not happen to 
go off till night, when he was going to 
bed, when it wounded his hand, which 
has been bleeding ever since." 

" Ever since ! How long ago was 
this ? She did not look as if it co\ Id 
have been to-day." 

" Oh ! it was two years ago." 



100 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect I. 

A chance-wound Chance-cattle. 

" Two years ago ! and why don't ye 
seek the leech, and have the poor boy 
saved from bleeding to death — even 
though he was a fool — for more reasons 
than one?" 

" Ah ! you don't understand it. Every 
thing goes by chance here ; and there 
is only a chance that a man who is 
wounded will ever be healed. This is 
one of those cases, in which he will 
never be healed." 

" I don't understand it, truly^" said 
Hafed. 

They stopped to look at some 
" chance-cattle" in a yard. Some had 
but three legs ; some had the head on 
in the wrong part of the body ; some 
were covered with wool, under which 
they were sweltering in a cHmate 



Lectl.] IS THERE ANY GOD? IQl 

A choice herd. 

always tropical. Some were half horse 
and half ox. One cow had a young 
dwarf of a camel following her, and 
claiming her as his mother. Young 
elephants were there with the flocks of 
sheep ; horses with claws like a lion, 
and geese clamping round the yard 
with hoofs like horses. It was all the 
work of chance. 

" This," said the guide, " is a choice 
collection of cattle. You never saw 
the like before." 

''That is true, — truth itself," cried 
Hafed. 

" Ah ! but the owner had been at 

almost infinite pains and expense to 

collect them. I don't believe there is 

another such collection anywhere in all 

this ' chance-world.'" 
9* 



102 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. I. 

The happy owner. 

"I hope not," said Hafed. 

Just as they were leaving the pre- 
mises, the owner came out, to admire, 
and show, and talk over his treasures. 
He wanted to gaze at Hafed ; but his 
head happened to be near the ground 
between his feet, so that he had to 
mount up on a wall, before he could 
get a fair view of the stranger. 

"Don't think I am a happy man," 
said he to Hafed, " in having so many 
and such perfect animals. Alas ! even 
in this happy and perfect world, there 
are always draw-backs. That fine- 
looking cow yonder happens to give 
nothing but warm water for milk ; and 
her calf, poor thing, died the first week. 
Some of them have good-looking eyes, 
but from some defect, are stone blind. 



Lect. I.] IS THERE ANY GOD? 103 

A chance-sun. 

Some cannot live in the light, and few 
of them can hear. No two eat the 
same food, and it is a great labor to 
take care of them. I sometimes feel 
as if I had almost as lief be a poor 
man." 

" I think I should rather," said 
Hafed 

While they were talking, in an in- 
stant, they were in midnight darkness. 
The sun was gone, and Hafed could not 
for some time see his guide. 

" What has happened ?" said he. 

" Oh ! nothing uncommon," said the 
guide. "The sun happened to go 
down now. There is no regular time 
for him to shine ; but he goes and comes 
just as it happens, and leaves as sud- 
denly as you see." 



104 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lcct. I. 

Measuring time. 

"As I donH see," said Hafed;"but I 
hope he will come back at an appoint- 
ed time, at any rate." 

" That, Sir, will be just as it happens. 
Sometimes he is gone for months, and 
sometimes for weeks, and sometimes 
only for a few minutes. Just as it hap- 
pens. We may not see him again for 
months, but perhaps he will come 
soon." 

" But how do you talk about months, 
and days, when you have no such 
things ?" 

" I will soon tell you about that. We 
measure time here by the yard^^ 

" By the yard ?" 

" Yes ; we call that time which the 
most perfect men among us take in 
walking a yard^ to be the sixtieth part 



Lect. I.] IS THERE ANY GOD? 105 

A misfortune. 

of an hour. These hours we reckon 
into days, and these days into years. 
To be sure, we are not very exact, be- 
cause some men walk so much faster 
than others; but this is just as their 
legs happen to be long or short." 

As the guide was proceeding, to the 
unexpressible joy of all, the sun at 
once broke out. The light was so sud- 
den, that Hafed at jfirst thought he 
must be struck with lightning, and ac- 
tually put his hands up to his eyes, to 
see if they were safe. He then clapped 
his hands over his eyes, till he could 
gradually bear the light. There was a 
splendor about the sun which he had 
never before seen ; and it was intoler- 
ably hot. The air seemed like a fur- 
nace. 



106 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. I. 

A house in the chance-world. 

" Ah !" said the owner of the cattle, 
" we must now scorch for it. My poor 
wool-ox must die at once ! Bad luck, 
bad luck to us! The sun has come 
back much nearer than he was before. 
But we hope he will happen to go away 
again soon, and then happen to come 
back further off the next time." 

The sun was now pouring down his 
heat so intensely, that they were glad 
to go into the house for shelter — a 
miserable-looking place indeed. Hafed 
could not but compare it with his own 
beautiful cottage. Some timbers were 
rotten ; for the tree was not, as it hap- 
pened, the same thing in all its parts. 
Some of the boards happened to be like 
paper, and the nails tore out, and these 
were loose and coming off. They had 



Lect I.] IS THERE ANY GOD? 107 

A chance-feast. 

to do their cooking out under the burn- 
ing sun ; for when the smoke once got 
into the house, there was no getting it 
out, unless it happened to go, which 
was not very often. 

They invited Hafed to eat. On sit- 
ting down at table, he noticed that each 
one had a different kind of food, and that 
no two could eat out of the same dish. 
He was told that it so happened, that 
the food which one could eat, was poi- 
son to another, and what w^as agreeable 
to one, was nauseating to another. 
Selecting the food which looked most 
inviting, Hafed attempted to eat. What 
was his surprise when he found that his 
hands did not happen to be under the 
control of his will, and, instead of 
carrying the food to his mouth, these 



108 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. I. 

A chance-feast. 

active servants put it into his right ear ! 
On examining, he found it was so with 
all the rest, and by imitating the com- 
pany, and twisting his head round over 
his right shoulder, and placing his mouth 
where the ear was, he managed to eat. 
In amazement, he asked how this hap- 
pened. 

" Ah !" said they, laughing at his 
ignorance of the world, " we have no 
fixed laws here. All is chance. Some- 
times we have one or more limbs for a 
long time which are not under the con- 
trol of our will. It is just as it hap- 
pens. So when we drink, we find it 
always true, that 

'Some shed it on their shoulder, 
Some shed it on their thigh ; 
And he that does not hit his mouth 
Is sure to hit his eye.' " 



Lect. I.] IS THERE ANY GOD ? 109^ 

Effects of heat. 

" I suppose that to be coffee," said 
Hafed, "and I will thank you for a 
cup." 

It was handed him. He had been 
troubled with a tooth-ache for some 
hours, and how did he quail when on 
filling his mouth, he found it w^as ice, in 
little pieces about as large as pigeon- 
shot ! 

" Do you call ice-water, coffee, here ?" 
said Hafed, pressing his hand upon the 
cheek where the tooth was now dancing 
with pain. 

"That is just as it happens. We 

put water over the fire, and sometimes 

it heats it, and sometimes it freezes it. 

How can it be otherwise, when we have 

here no fixed laws of any kind ? It is 

all chance-work." 
10 



110 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. I. 

Hafed's reflections. 

Hafed rose from the table in anguish 
of spirit. He remembered the world 
where he had lived, and all that was 
past. He had desired to live in a world 
where there was no God, — where all 
was governed by chance, so far as there 
was any thing that looked hke govern- 
ment. Here he was, and here he 
must live. He threw himself on a bed, 
and recalled the past — the beautiful 
world in which he had once lived -, his 
ingratitude, — his murmurings, and his 
blasphemy against the wisdom and the 
goodness of God, He wept like in- 
fancy. He would have prayed, and 
even began a prayer ; but then he re- 
collected that there was no God here — 
nothing to direct events — nothing but 
chance. He shed many and bitter 



Lect. I.] IS THERE ANY GOD? Ill 

Hafed awakes His views altered. 

tears of repentance. At last he wept 
himself asleep. 

When Hafed again awoke, he was 
sitting under his palm-tree in his own 
beautiful garden. It was morning. At 
the appointed moment, the glorious sun 
rose up in the east ; — the fields were all 
green and fresh; the trees were all 
right end upwards, and covered with 
blossoms ; the beautiful deer were 
bounding in their gladness, over the 
lawn, and the songsters in the trees, 
which, in plumage and sweetness, might 
have vied with those that sang in Eden, 
were uttering their morning song. 

Hafed arose, — recalled that ugly 
dream, and then wept for joy. Was 
he again in a world where chance does 
not reign ? He looked up, and then 



112 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. I. 

Conclusion. 

turned to the God of heaven and earth, 
— the God of laws and of order. He 
gave glory to him, and confessed that 
his ways, to us unsearchable, are full 
of wisdom. He was a new man. 
Tears indeed fell at the graves of his 
family ; but he now lived to do good to 
men, and to make others happy. He 
called a young and worthy couple, dis- 
tant relatives, to fill his house. His 
home again smiled, and peace and con- 
tentment came back, and were his 
abiding guests. 

Hafed would never venture to affirm 
whether this was a dream, or a reality. 
On the whole, he was inclined to think 
it real, and that there is somewhere a 
" chance-world ;" but he always shook 
his head, and declared that, so far from 



Lect I.] IS THERE ANY GOD ? 113 



Conclusion. 



wishing to live there, nothing gave him 
greater cause of gratitude as he daily 
knelt in prayer, than the fact, that he 
lived in a world w^here God ruled, — and 
ruled by laws fixed, wise, and merci- 
ful. H 



114 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. L 



Spectamur agendo. 



SPECTAMUR AGENDO. 



LINES 



A MIMIC mill was on the stream; 

A pond sent up its cheerful gleam ; 

The ducks upon the surface played; 

The poultry by its margin strayed; 

A windmill clattered on the shed; 

The martins near, their younglings fed, 

Or, perched upon their little roof, 

Beheld their insect food aloof; 

An orchard there with many a shoot, 

Too young to yield its pleasant fruit; 

A little rake upon the wall; 

A Httle cart a child might haul; 

A little shed, the chickens' home. 

Whence from their parent they would roam ; 

A hive within a fragrant bower; 

A well- wrought plat with many a flower; 



Lect I.] IS THERE ANY GOD? II5 

Spectamur agendo. 

These were the things that met the eye, 
But he who made them was not by. 

Within the house a little stool, 

That showed a nicely handled tool; 

A little bedstead, and a nut 

Into a basket neatly cut; 

A little table and a chair : 

But he who made them was not there. 

The parents said it was their son. 
Who all these various things had done ; 
Had built the mill, the pond had made; 
Had reared the ducks that on it played; 
Had made his sisters many a toy. 
And built that house, the martin's joy; 
Had nursed those trees and made them thrive ; 
Had made the bees their curious hive ; 
Had dug the plat and reared the flowers, 
To cheer the summer's sultry hours; 
Had made the cart in which might ride 
His little sisters, side by side. 
Their books the little sisters brought. 
Their brother's hoarded pence had bought. 



116 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. I. 

Spectamur agendo. 

They showed the shelves their brother made, 
With minerals and dried plants arrayed. 
Within the door these lines appeared, 
Doubly by William's death endeared: 
" Remember Him who made the stone 
To shine with colors of its own ; 
Who made the plant the eye to please. 
And made the eye the plant that sees. 
May you be gems of heavenly dye. 
And plants to bloom above the sky." 

Children, this youth you never saw. 

But could you not his portrait draw ? 

Say, was he gentle, kind, and good, 

Or selfish, and of surly mood ? 

Did useful skill his hands employ. 

Or was he but an idle boy ? 

Think you he sought his God in prayer, 

Or was this world his only care? 

He 's gone ; but still in actions lives ; 

Then read the lesson that he gives. 

Whence comes the green that clothes the fields? 
And whence the food that nature yields. 



LectL] IS THERE ANY GOD? 117 

Conclusion. 

Adapted to each different taste, 
And in its proper region placed? 
Whence comes the fur that warms the bear, 
That on the icebergs makes his lair? 
The fat in which the whale is rolled 
To screen him from the arctic cold? 
Whence comes the beauty that we see 
In every flower and every tree? 
Who taught the nightingale to sing, 
And gave the jay his painted wing? 
Who made the eye, shall He not see 
The wonders he has spread for me ? 
Nature declares there is a Power 
Around and in us every hour. 
Who knows our wants, sustains our frame, 
Whose kindness, every hour the same. 
Calls for our gratitude and love, 
Bids our affections soar above 
The transient forms around us strown. 
And cluster round his holy throne. 

a F. M. 



LECTURE 11. 



GOD A SPIRIT. 



" God is a Spirit.'' — John iv. 24 



Hiero — The heathen philosopher — His answer — < 
God a rock — Why 1 — God a tower — Hebrews want 
a word — First reason why God is called a spirit — 
What cannot be seen — Angel-visits — God a spirit — 
The second reason — The little dead boy — His death — 
God not heard — Third reason — The lightning- — The 
Holy Daniel — China — The absent brother — Fourth 
reason — Sodom's burning — The angel in Egypt — 
Angel in Palestine — Awful power — God's power — 
Fifth reason — What must die — What cannot die — 
Sixth reason — Angel-students — Ignorance of a child 
— What Angels do — What God knows — Why God is 
unlike a spirit — First reason — God had no beginning — 
Second reason — Angels have changed — A spirit learns 
new things — God does not — Third reason — A spirit 
limited — A spirit not in two places — Not so with God 
— Fourth reason — Spirits are servants — God not con- 
trolled — Four things to he remembered — The Jirst-— 

(119) 



120 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect.IL 

HiERO The heathen philosopher. 

Pictures supposed — Why we make pictures — No pic- 
ture like God — Second thing to be remembered — A 
good man's comfort — Third thing to be remembered — 
How God sees us — The dirty dress — Fourth thing to 
be remembered — The noblest thing — No picture of 
Christ — How Christ seen. 



Children, did you ever hear of Hiero, 
King of Syracuse ? He was a heathen ; 
but he one day saw a learned man, and 
said to him, 

" Tell me, what is God ?" 

The heathen philosopher desired one 
day to think about it, before he answered 
the king. This request was granted, 
in order to get a clear answer. 

Being asked the same question the 
next day, he desired two days more to 
think about it ; and every time he was 
asked, he wished the time doubled, in 
which he might think about it. The 



Lect. II.] GOD A SPIRIT. 121 

His answer God called a Rock. 

king was surprised, and asked why he 
did so? 

" Because," says the poor man, " the 
more I think about God, the less I hope 
to understand him !" 

This was a wonderful answer. And 
we shall find, the more we think about 
God, the more we shall be lost in 
wonder. 

Why is God called a Rock in the 
Bible ? Do you think it is because he 
is hard, or cold, like a rock ? No. But 
he is like a rock in one thing — he is not 
moved^ or changed. A. little boy may 
climb up a great rock, and play upon 
it, and then go away and not see it till 
he is a man ; but when he does see it, 
the rock is just as it used to be, — it is 

not moved or changed. You might sit 
11 



122 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. IL 



Why a rock . . . God a tower . . . Hebrews want a word. 

down behind a great rock, and the 
strong wind might blow, and you would 
be safe; it would not move. You 
might have a cannon fired at you, and 
you would be safe : the rock would not 
move. Thus God is a rock, because 
he does not change, and because he 
makes his people safe. 

You now see why God is called a 
tower^ in the Bible. You might be in a 
strong tower, and the storm might rage 
around it, or armed men might try to 
break in and kill you, — but you would 
be safe. Thus because God keeps his 
people safe, he is said to be a tower, or 
like a tower. 

The Hebrews had no such word as 
our word like ; and so when they want- 
ed to say that one thing is like another, 



Lect. 11.] GOD A SPIRIT. 123 

First reason why God is called a spirit . . What cannot be seen. 

they said it is the thing : thus, we 
should say, " the Lord is like a tower ;" 
but they say, "the Lord is a tower." 
We should say, this is like my body, 
and like my blood, shed for the remis- 
sion of sins ; but as they had no such 
word as like^ they say, "this is my 
body," and " this is my blood." 

Just so in my text. God is said to 
be a spirit : " God is a spirit ;" that is, 
he is like a spirit, in many things ; and 
in many, he is unlike a spirit. Let me 
make this plain. 

1. God cannot be seen, and therefore 
he is like a spirit. 

You can see many things, such as a 
house, a mountain, a rock, a tree, and 
men. They are not spirit. They are 
coarse. But the wind which tears up 



124 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect.IL 

Angel-visits. 

the great tree, you cannot see. The 
heat which the sun pours down, you 
cannot see. The pity which makes 
your friends weep, as they hang over 
your sick bed, you cannot see. The 
love which makes you think of your 
home and your parents, while away, 
you cannot see. So there are angels 
which you cannot see. They are spirits. 
They might come and watch around 
your bed at night ; they might now be 
in this very house, and walking up and 
down these aisles to see who is list- 
ening,— but you could not see them. 
They see us, and are called in the Bible 
" a great cloud of witnesses." 

But you will ask, have not spirits 
been seen? Did not Abraham, and 
Lot, and the Prophets, see angels ? Yes, 



Lect. II.] GOD A SPIRIT. 125 

God a spirit . . . The second reason . . . The little dead boy. 

they did. But the angels had to come 
in a human body, hke men, or else 
they could not have seen them. 

Thus God is called a spirit, because 
we cannot see him. "No man hath 
seen God at any time." He is in hea- 
ven, and he is here in this house ; he is 
with you every moment ; but you can- 
not see him, because he is a spirit. 

2. God is like a spirit^ because a spirit 
cannot be heard. 

I once attended the funeral of a httle 
boy, two or three years old. He lay in 
the coffin, while his pale mother, with 
his twin-sister in her arms, stood over 
him. His light, silky hair, lay parted 
on his white forehead. In his little 
hand was a small rose, just beginning 
to open. Could he feel that rose ? No. 
11=^ 



126 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect.Il 

His death God not heard. 

Could he smell it ? No. Could he hear 
the stifled sobs of his mother ? No. 
Why not ? The hand was there, — the 
nose was there, — the ear was there! 
Why could he not feel, and smell, and 
hear as well as ever ? Because his 
spirit^ the soul, the mind, was not there. 
It was gone away to God who made it. 

Now, when that child died, there 
were several people in the room: but 
could they see or hear the spirit of the 
little boy, as it left them to go into 
eternity? Suppose angels had been 
there, come to carry his soul up to 
Jesus, could their steps have been heard ? 
No, — you cannot hear a spirit as he 
moves. 

God is such a spirit. You cannot 
hear him as he comes to you. You lie 



Lect. II.] GOD A SPIRIT. 127 



Third reason The lightning; 

down at night, tired and sleepy. He 
comes to your bed-side to watch over 
you, and to shut your eye-lids. But 
you hear not his footsteps in the room. 
In the morning he opens your eyes, 
and pours the chamber full of light. 
But he makes no noise. He lifts up 
the great sun, and sheds light over all 
the earth, but you hear him not. He 
is a spirit. 

3. God is called a spirit^ because a 
spirit is very quick in moving from one 
place to another. 

Did these children never look out in 
the dark evening, when the black clouds 
were rolling over head, and when the 
heavy thunders were near by ? You 
have seen the quick flash of lightning. 
How it blazed, and showed every thing 



128 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. 11. 

- Holy Daniel China. 

around for a moment, and then it was 
gone ! We never saw any thing move 
as quick as Hghtning. But the Bible 
tells us that the angels move as quick 
as lightning. " Who maketh his angels 
spirits, and his ministers a flame of 
fire." (Hebrews i. 7.) 

When Daniel was praying on the 
banks of the river, where he could be 
alone, even during his prayer, the angel 
Gabriel flew from the third heavens, 
and came down to the weeping Prophet 
(Dan. ix. 21. 22.) 

Just so God is said to move quick, 
like a spirit. " And he rode upon a 
cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly 
upon the wings of the wind." (Psalms 
xviii. 10.) 

Do you know how far off* China is ? 



Lect. II.] GOD A SPIRIT. 129 

The absent brother. 

It is many thousands of miles ; and you 
would have to sail in the ship for many 
weeks before you could get there. A 
little boy once had a brother in China ; 
and he knew, that every night at sun- 
set this brother went up into his little 
room for prayer, when he prayed for 
his parents and his little brother at 
home. Now let this little boy stand in 
the door of his father's house, and see 
the sun go down. How long would it 
take him to send his thought awav off 
to China, and to think of his dear bro- 
ther there ? It is done in an instant. 
Thus quick do the spirits in heaven 
move from one part of creation to an- 
other ; and because God is everywhere, 
at every moment, he is therefore called 
a spirit. 

I 



130 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. II. 

Fourth reawn . . . An angel's power . . . Sodom's burning. 

4. God is called a spirit^ because a 
spirit has great power. 

The woman could not roll the great 
stone away from the grave of Christ, — 
but an angel could ; and he could make 
the earth shake, and the soldiers fall 
down on the ground like dead men. 
(Matt. xxii. 2. 4.) 

A multitude of men could not have 
burned up Sodom and Gomorrah in a 
single morning ; but two angels went 
there one morning, and poured out fire 
and brimstone from the Lord out of 
heaven, and "lo! the smoke of them 
went up as the smoke of a great fur- 
nace !" (Gen. xix. 28.) 

It would take an army of men to go 
through all the land of Egypt, and in 
one night kill the eldest one in every 



Lect II.] GOD A SPIRIT. 131 

The angel in Egypt . . Angel in Palestine . . Awful power. 

family! But a single angel passed 
through the land in one night, and by 
morning light, he had done his dreadful 
errand ! — in every house there was cry- 
ing and wailing through all the land ! 
(Ex. xii. 29, 30.) 

David was a great king, and had a 
great army about him. A great many 
men could not have gone among his 
people and killed seventy thousand men 
in three days ; and yet an angel did it ! 
(Read this interesting account in 2 
Sam. xxiv. 15, 16, 17.) 

What a great army would it take to 
go to another army of trained warriors, 
and in one night, kill one hundred and 
eighty-four thousand soldiers ! and yet 
one angel did all this in one night! 
(2 Kings, xix. 35.) What strength 



132 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. 11. 

God's power Fifth reason. 

must there be in such an arm ! What 
great power has one such spirit! 

What, then, must God, the Great 
Spirit, be? Before him the pillars of 
heaven tremble. All these angels are 
charged with folly. They are weak, 
they are nothing before him. " Behold, 
the nations are as a drop of a bucket, 
and are counted as the small dust of the 
balance," which we blow out and throw 
away. '• Behold, he taketh up the isles 
as a very little thing. All nations be- 
fore him are as nothing: they are 
counted to him less than nothing and 
vanity." Oh ! what strength God has ! 
And because a spirit has so much pow- 
er, God is also said to be a spirit. 

5. God is called a spirit because a 
spirit cannot die. 



Lect II.] GOD A SPIRIT. 133 

What must die What will not die. 

Every living thing which we see, 

must die. The bird that cuts the air, 

the fish that darts through the water, 

the wild beast that bounds away in his 

strength, — will be overtaken by death. 

The wisest man, and the strongest man, 

and the best man, must die. We go to 

our neighbours and help them to bury 

their " dead out of sight." All things 

around us change. New families come 

into the neighborhood, the trees around 

become old and die. The bright sun 

in the heavens, the great ocean wdth its 

many wonders, and the blue sky and the 

stars, will all pass away, and be no 

more. But a spirit will not die. The 

happy angels w^ho sang and shouted for 

joy when this world was created, are 

no nearer dying 7iow^ than they were 
12 



134 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. II. 

Sixth reason . . . Angel-students . . . Ignorance of a child. 

then. God is such a spirit. " I am the 
Lord, I change not." 

6. God is called a spirit because a 
spirit KNOWS a great deal. 

If a bright boy should study hard, 
and have good teachers, and should stu- 
dy for a full hundred years, would he 
not know a great deal ? But think of 
the spirits, — the holy angels who live 
in heaven. They have lived thousands 
of years ; — they have never had to stop 
tc sleep, to be sick, nor to rest. They 
have had God to teach them. Do they 
not know a great deal? 

Besides, the angels have to do things 
which they could not do, unless they 
knew a great deal. Could a little boy 
go into a great ship, and be her captain, 
and sail round the world with her ? No. 



Lect. II.] GOD A SPIRIT. 135 

What angels do. 

Why not ? Because he don't know 
enough. Could a poor ignorant man 
go and be the general of a great army, 
and with the army punish a nation ? 
No. Why not ? Because he don't 
know enough. Could the man who did 
not know a great deal, be the President 
of a college ? No. But see now what 
the angels do. They w^ere sent to burn 
up great cities, (Gen. xix. 28.) ; to teach 
Prophets and Apostles : to watch over 
the people of God on earth (Heb. i. 14.) ; 
and at the day of Judgment, they will 
be sent to gather all nations before 
Christ to be judged. (Matt. xxv. 31.) 
They do the errands of Christ. Now, 
could they do all these things, unless 
they knew a great deal ? Did you ever 
read of a mistake which an angel made ? 



136 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. II. 

What God knows . . Why God is unlike a spirit . . First reason. 

Never. Oh ! if they, the mere servants 
of God, are so wise, and know so 
much, how wise must God himself be ? 
He is a pure spirit. He is all know- 
ledge. He is higher, wiser than all. 
No wonder the Psalmist cries to the 
angels in heaven, " let them praise the 
name of the Lord^ his name alone is 
excellent^ his glory is above the earth and 
heavens^ 

Though God is called a spirit, and in 
many things is like a spirit, yet in other 
things he is very unlike a spirit. I wish 
now to tell you how he is unlike a spirit 
in many things. 

1. God is unlike a spirit ^ because they 
were created^ and had a begin7iing : he 
was uncreated^ and had no beginning. 

If an angel were to come and stand 



Lect. II.] GOD A SPIRIT. 137 

God had no beginning. 

in my place in this pulpit, he could tell 
you when the morning first opened 
upon this world ; for he was there, and 
saw it. But he was then just created. 
He then had a beginning. But you 
may go back to the time» when the 
earth was covered with waters, and 
darkness, and there was no creature 
made, and no green thing created, and 
there God was, — dividing the waters 
from the waters. Go back to the time 
when all was darkness, and there God 
was, calling for the light, and the light 
came. Before the mountains lifted up 
their high heads, before the hills were 
made, before any thing was made, God 
was living. His life had no beginning. 
All other spirits borrowed their hfe ; 
but he borrowed from no one, 
12* 



138 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. II. 

Second reason Angels have changed. 

2. God is unlike a spirit^ because he 
cannot change. 

A spirit was once nothing — he was 
not made, and by the power of God he 
changed from nothing into a glorious 
angel. The same power which made 
him, could destroy him. Not so with 
God. No power could destroy or 
change him. 

Some of the angels sinned, became 
devils, were thrust out of heaven ; they 
lost joy, and found woe ; they stopt 
singing God's praises, and turned every 
song into curses, day and night, for ever ; 
they no longer aid men to get to hea- 
ven, but try to ruin them. They are 
murderers. What a change ! The 
bright morning star fails into eternal 
darkness ! 



Lect. II.] GOD A SPIRIT. 139 

A spirit learns new things . . God does not . . Third reason. 

Not so with God. He is the same 
yesterday, to-day, and for ever. 

A spirit, too, learns new things, and 
thus changes his opinions. They " look 
into"' the things which Christ is doing, 
and learn something every day. 

They are ignorant too, of some 
things. When a sinner repents, (Luke 
XV. 10.) it is news to them, and they 
rejoice. They know not the day nor 
the hour when Christ will judge the 
world. When that day comes, they 
will learn many things which they did 
not know before. Not so with God. 
" All things are known unto God from 
the beginning." 

3. God is unlike a spirit^ because he 
is unlimited in every thing. 

A spirit must learn all he knows, as 



140 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect II. 



A spirit is limited A spirit not in two places. 

we do. God knows all things without 
learning. 

An angel is strong, and has great 
power ; but God can make him weak 
in a moment ; but no one can take 
power away from God. 

An angel may know much ; he may 
know more than the wisest man, and 
perhaps more than all the wise men in 
the world ; but he is limited : he does 
not know all things, as God does. 

A spirit can fly swiftly like lightning : 
but he cannot be in heaven and on earth 
at the same moment. He cannot be 
praising the Lamb in heaven, and at the 
same moment be carrying Lazarus to 
Abraham's bosom. If an angel were 
here now, looking at these children, 
and at me, while I am speaking, he 



Lcct. II.] GOD A SPIRIT. 141 

Not so with God . . Fourth reason . . Spirits are servants. 

could not be in heaven at the same mo- 
ment. It is not so with God, He can 
be here, and at the sun, and in the 
hiorhest heaven, at the same moment. 
He hears the song of the seraphs in 
heaven, and the cry of the young bird 
asking for food, at the same moment. 
When you pray to God, he does not 
have to come to you, — he is already, 
and always here, and everywhere. 

4. God is unlike a spirit^ because no^ 
body can control him. 

The word angel means messenger^ 
because God sends them to do his mes- 
sages and errands. The great arch- 
angel Michael, is only a servant. So 
is Gabriel, the strong angel. They live 
in God, see by his light, grow wise by 
his teachings, and they feel that they 



142 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. II. 

God not controlled . . Four things to be remembered . . The first. 

were made to do the will of God, and 
be his servants. He controls them. 

But who will control God ? " Who 
hath been his counsellor? None can 
say unto him, what doest thou, or why 
doest thou thus? Behold, he putteth 
no trust in his servants, and his angels 
he charged with folly. He doeth his 
pleasure in the armies above, and in 
this lower world." 

Now, children, there are four things 
about this which I wish you to remem- 
ber. Will you try to do it? 

1. Remember that as God is a spirit, 
you see why, in the second command- 
ment, we are told not to worship any 
image or picture of God. 

Suppose some one should make a man 
of straw, and hang it up in the room, 



Lect. II.] GOD A SPIRIT. 143 

Pictures supposed Why we make pictures. 

and say that it looked just like your 
father ! Would you hke that ? 

Suppose you were now away off in 
some other part of the world among 
strangers, and a man should bring in a 
picture of a dog, or a monkey, and tell 
the strangers that it looked hke your 
father at home, — would you like that ? 
No, you would loathe it : and yet it 
would look more like your father than 
any picture or image we can make 
looks like God. What poor creatures 
we are ! If we want to make a picture 
of God, or of an angel, or of a devil, 
we make a picture of man ! Why do 
we ? Because we know not what else 
to make. What a foohsh, as well as 
wicked business, is this trying to make 
a picture like God, who is a pure spirit ! 



144 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. II 

No picture like God .... Second thing to be remembered. 

A poor, feeble, sinful man, or a beast, 
or bird, still lower than man, can never 
be copied, and make a picture which 
looks like God. " To whom then will 
ye liken me, or shall I be equal ? saith 
the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on 
high, and behold who hath created these 
things, that bringeth out their host by 
number; he calleth them all by their 
names, by the greatness of his might, 
for that he is strong in power, not one 
faileth. Hast thou not known ? Hast 
thou not heard, that the everlasting 
God, the Lord, the creator of the ends 
of the earth, fainteth not, neither is 
weary ? There is no searching of his 
understanding." 

2. As God is a spirit, you see how he 
can comfort the good man. 



Lcct. II.] GOD A SPIRIT. 145 

A good man's comfort. 

Two drops of water placed side by 
side, run together very easily, because 
they are alike. Two friends come to- 
gether very easily, because they feel 
alike. And when a good man is bow- 
ed down under sorrow and trouble, God 
conies at once to his spirit, — the two 
spirits easily come together — and this 
comforts him. Thus men may pray 
and hold communion with God, when 
the tongue does not say a word. So 
when a good man dies, the eye closes, 
the hand hangs down, the ear is deaf, 
but the soul can feel God present, and 
have peace, and joy, and blessedness. 
So when the body is dead and put into 
the grave, the soul may and does go 
and be with God in the world of spirits, 
there to commune with him for ever. 

13 K 



146 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect II. 

Third thing to be remembered How God sees us. 

The body is not necessary to enjoy 
God, any more than a house is neces- 
sary in order to keep a man breathing. 

3. As God is a spirit^ you see how it 
is that you ought to worship him with a 
true and sincere heart. 

Children, you may stand up in prayer, 
and shut your eyes, and look as if you 
were praying, while your thoughts may 
be away at home, upon your play- 
things. God is a spirit, and he looks 
at once into the heart, and knows all 
about what we think and feel. 

Some are hypocrites : they pretend 
they are good when they are not ; they 
pretend to worship God, when they 
only mock him. They may deceive 
men, and even themselves, but they can- 
not deceive God. When a thought 



Lect. II.] GOD A SPIRIT. 147 

The dirty dress Fourth thing to be remembered. 

rises up in the heart, good or bad, God 
is there to see it. 

My dear children, if your clothes 
were dirty and spotted, we should all 
see it, and you would be ashamed to 
come here. But when you know that 
God sees every spot which sin has 
made upon your breast, how do you 
feel ? Do you feel ashamed of that ? 
" To this man will I look," says God, 
" even to him that is poor and of a 
contrite spirit, and trembleth at my 
word. The sacrifices of God are a 
broken spirit ; a broken and a contrite 
heart, O God, thou wilt not despise." 

4. You see what is the noblest part of 
man. 

The noblest part of man is his spirit, 
—that part of him which is created in 



148 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. II. 

The noblest thing No picture of Christ. 

the image and likeness of God. This 
will hve, think and feel, for ever. This 
will not die, nor sleep in the gi^ave. 
This cannot be burned up with the 
world. How foolish to take so much 
care to feed and clothe the body, and 
let the soul starve ! 

Did you ever hold up any thing be- 
fore a looking-glass, and see the image 
in the glass? Did you ever see the 
impression of a seal on the sealing- 
wax ? Well, Jesus Christ is the image 
of God, and the brightness of his glory, 
just as clear an image as the seal 
leaves, and just as bright an image as 
the glass throws back. If, then, you 
could see Christ, you would see God. 
Why then have we no pictures of 
Christ handed round, so that we can 



Lcct. II.] GOD A SPIRIT. 149 

How Christ seen. 

see just how he looked ? Ah ! that is 
not it. It is the life, the holiness, the 
character, the power, the mercy, the 
greatness, and the goodness of Christ, 
that are so much like God. Look into 
the New Testament, then, and see what 
Christ did, felt, taught, and what he 
was, and you see God. This is the 
only image which we may worship. 
Be like Christ, then, and you are like 
God, — are his sons and daughters, and 
he will be your Father for ever. Amen. 



13* 



LECTURE III 



GOD ETERNAL 



**I am the first, and I am the last." — IsA. xliv. 6. 



The little boy and the pond — The broken arm — 
Sleepless night — A long year — The old man — Going 
backward* — What eternity is — and God ! — How we 
measure eternity — How old is God — When eternity 
begin 1 — Mysteries — What we see begin — Will God 
stop living 1 — The aged visiter — Rock in the ocean — 
What we learn — The first thing — What wicked men 
say — Solomon's brazen sea — Day of Judgment — What 
is before us — The second thing learned — Great work 
— What it is — The third thing learned — The painted 
boards — Furniture — Houses — Great things — World to 
be destroyed — Golden knife — Why the world des- 
troyed — The fourth thing learned — What we need 
not fear — Who will remain 1 — The fifth thing learned 
— Why God is to be feared — His anger — Beautiful 
prayer. 

(151) 



152 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. III. 
The little boy and the pond The broken arm. 

A LITTLE boy once stood by the side 
of a small pond. He looked off over 
it, and thought it a great way across it. 
He looked into it, and thought it very 
deep ; and he thought that it was a 
very great water. But when he grew 
up and became a man, and had passed 
over the great ocean several times, 
v^^iere he sailed many days and nights 
without coming to any land, — that pond 
seemed to be very small. 

Any thing seems great or small to us, 
according to what we measure it by. 

If one of these children were to 
break his arm, and it became so bad 
that it must be cut off to save life, the 
surgeon must come to do it. 

As you saw him take out his knives, 
and saws, and strings, and carefully go 



Lect. III.} GOD ETERNAL. 153 

Sleepless night. 

to work to take off the arm, it would 
seem a long, long time, before he got 
through, — though it might not be more 
than fifteen minutes. Fifteen minutes 
seems a great while, when we have to 
measure them by great and severe pain. 
But when you measure them by a 
whole year, they seem very short. 

Did you never lie down at night in 
health, and go to sleep, and when you 
awoke in the morning, have the night 
seem very short? But if you were 
ship-wrecked on the great ocean, and 
had to hang all night by a rope, wet 
and cold, and expecting that the very 
next wave would wash you into eter- 
nity, you would feel that one night is a 
great while, and that the morning sun 
had forgotten to rise. 



154 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Led. III. 

A long year The old man. 

Or if you lay upon your bed, sick, 
full of pain, and sleepless, with friends 
treading softly around you, and hearing 
nothing but the slow ticking of the 
clock ; O, how long would the night 
seem ! It would seem as if the day 
would never return. This is because 
you measure the night by the pangs of 
pain which you feel. 

A year seems a great while to a 
child ; but to the old man it seems a 
very little time. 

We think the grey-headed man who 
has lived seventy years, an old man; 
but if you measure life by the lives of 
men who lived before the flood, what 
are seventy years ? Measure seventy 
years by the whole time since the world 
was made, and what are they? 



Lectin.] GOD ETERNAL. 155 

Going backward. 

How old is that little boy in that 
front pew ? Ten ? Well, go back ten 
years, and there was no such boy. Go 
back fifty years, and his parents were 
not created. Go back, over the graves 
of men for two thousand years, and 
you come to Jesus Christ. Go back, 
back four thousand years more, and 
you come to the time when this world 
was created. The hills, and valleys, 
and rivers, were not made. The sun, 
and moon, and stars, were not made. 
Light was not made. There was no- 
thing. Out of this nothing, the world 
must come : — the sun and moon, and 
heavens, must come. Now what can 
make them come? Can they come 
themselves ? No. 

But some pretend to say that there 



15G CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. III. 

What eternity is — and God ! . . . How we measure eternity. 

was ground and water, and wind to 
move the water and the dust. 

Suppose there was ; could dust and 
water, and air, make themselves into 
birds and fish, and cattle, into fields 
and trees, into an arm and a hand, an 
eye and a tongue — and above all, into 
the MIND which is within us ? 

No ! no ! There are too many marks 
of mind^ and we say that mind must 
have been there — aw^ay oflf in that dark 
place which we call Eternity^ — before 
this world was made! That mind, so 
wise, so great, so contriving, so power- 
ful, we call GOD. This is what I mean 
when I say, that " God is eternaV^ " I 
am the first." 

A child can look into a great, deep 
gulf, and see as far into it as a man, but 



Lectin.] GOD ETERNAL. 157 

How old is God? 

he cannot see the bottom. Let me tell 
you what I mean by the gulf. 

This world and these heavens have 
been made but a few thousand years ; 
but God was living before them. What 
was he doing ? Where was he, during 
that long eternity, before he created 
any thing which we see ? Can I tell ? 
No. — Can an angel tell? No. — Was 
he making other worlds, and letting 
miUions of creatures live, and go on to 
the judgment ? — and then was he burn- 
ing up these worlds and making new 
ones, as he will one day burn up this 
world ? Perhaps he was. Perhaps he 
did this to millions of worlds, and for 
millions of ages. Perhaps millions of 
thinking beings passed into eternity. 

Yes — yes — but before this, before he 
14 



158 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. HL 

When eternity begin Mysteries. 

even made any thing, — for ages and 

ages before, — what was God doing ? 

Ah ! I do not know\ " Who by 

searching can find out God?" Who 

can measure an ocean w^hich has no 

bottom ? Who can go back, and back, 

and back, and say, — "Here eternity 
began ?" 

Did you ever hear such a w^ord used 
as mystery ? It is a hard word, but it 
means something which we believe^ but 
Avhich we do not understand. Thus 
we believe that God is eternal, though 
we cannot explain what eternity is. 

Some people talk as if they would 
not believe any thing which they can- 
not understand, and thus they say that 
they will have no mysteries in their re- 
ligion ! I do not know what such 



Lect. III.] GOD ETERNAL. 159 

What we see begin. 

people think. If there be a God who 
has hved for ever, there must be about 
that God a greatness and an awfulness, 
before which the angels in heaven cover 
their faces with their wings. "Even from 
everlasting to everlasting, He is God." 

We see things begin. We know 
when that great oak on the hill was an 
acorn, and which perhaps was carried 
up the hill by a child as his play-thing. 
We know when the oldest man was 
born. We know when they began to 
build the great city. 

We know when the great sun first 
shed his rising beams upon the earth. 
But we cannot thus go back, and say, 
that "here God began to live." We 
go back till we get to the beginning ot 
all things, and there we find God — in 



160 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. III. 

Will God slop living? The aged visiter. 

eternity — alone, unchanging, unsearch- 
able, eternal! 

Thus we know that God has Hved 
for ever, because he made every thing 
at first. 

But how do we Know that God may 
never stop living? Can wicked men 
and devils stop his living ? No ! no ! 

" He sits on no precarious throne, 
Nor borrows leave to be." 

Instead of being able to stop God 
from living, all men and spirits must 
hanof on him for hfe. 

Now, children, suppose an old man 
should open that middle door, and walk 
up the aisle — an old man, as old as 
Jacob — would you not feel awed before 
him? Why would you? Because he 
is so old, you say. 



Lect. III.] GOD ETERNAL. IGl 

Rock in the ocean. 

Suppose you were now standing at 
the bottom of a great mountain, and 
were trying to look up and see its top — 
away up among the clouds, where it 
had been hiding its head ever since the 
flood — would you not feel awed ? 

How would you feel to stand on a 
great rock, far off in the ocean, where 
the huge waves had rolled in, and dashed 
against it, and w^here the storms and 
the winds had beat upon it, ever since 
the ocean was created ? What then is 
God ! That great Being who has held 
up the ocean, and the mountain, and 
the world, in his hand, ever since they 
were made — and yet "who fainteth 
not, neither is w^eary !" He has lived 
for ever, and he will live for ever. A 
thousand years pass away, and men go 

14* L 



162 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. III. 

What we learn . . The first thing . . What wicked men say. 

dow^n to the grave, but a thousand 
years are nothing to Him. 

Will you not now give me your at- 
tention, while I tell you what we may 
learn from such a subject as this. 

1. You see Jiow it is that the Bible 
says^ " a day is with the Lord as a 
thousand years^ and a thousand years as 
one dayy 

Wicked men have always been ready 
to cry out, " Why, the Bible cannot be 
true ; for in that, God promises to come 
and judge the world, but he does not 
come ! The fathers have fallen asleep, 
and all things continue as they were 
from the beginning. How then is that 
promise of his coming to be kept ?" 

Lfet these men know, that God is not 
slack concerning his promise, as some 



Lect. III.] GOD ETERNAL. 163 

Solomon's brazen sea. 

men count slackness. He has an eter- 
nity in which to carry out his plans. 
He waited four thousand years before 
he sent his son : and he has waited 
nearly two thousand years since, and 
yet the judgment day does not come ! 
Well, but what are these years to God ? 
You may go to the ocean and dip 
out a cup of water, and what is it to 
the ocean? You may pour it back 
again, and what is it to the ocean ? 
Solomon built a great sea of brass, 
which would hold at least eighty hogs- 
heads of water, (1 Chron. xviii. 8.) and 
you might empty all that into the ocean 
with your little cup of water, and what 
would either be to the great ocean ? 
Compared with the ocean^ the cup 
would be as the brazen sea, and the 



164 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. III. 

Day of judgment What is before us. 

brazen sea as the cup. They are both 
swallowed up and are nothing, when 
taken out, or when put into the ocean. 
Just so a thousand years, measured by 
eternity, are no more than a day ! 

In this way the Bible often speaks of 
the day of judgment as just at hand. 
On the scale of eternal years, there is 
but a space between us and the judg- 
ment day, as wide as the hand, and the 
Apostles might well say — " The day of 
the Lord is at hand.'' 

There will always be an eternity for- 
w^ard, as great as that which is past ; 
and, measuring by that, what are a 
thousand years? What is the time 
which this world will continue? Oh, 
the time will yet come, in the ages of 
eternity, when the whole time which the 



Lectin.] GOD ETERNAL. 165 

The second thing learned Great work. 

sun and the moon, and the world lasted, 
will seem like a day of childhood, which 
the old man can just remember ! Surely, 
in the sight of God, who lives and fills 
eternity, a " thousand years are as one 
day, and one day as a thousand years !" 

2. You see why the Bible calls this life 
a vapor. 

If one of these little boys had an 
errand to do a mile off, a day would be 
a great while in which to do it. If 
one of these men had an errand four 
miles off, a week would be a great 
while for him to do it in. But sup- 
pose a man in one year had to go 
across the ocean, visit England and 
India, and China, and carry thousands 
of Bibles, and give them all away with 
his own hands, w^ould not one year 



166 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. III. 

What it is. 

seem a very short time in which to do 
so great a work ? 

So it will be with you. If you feel 
that you live here only to eat and drink 
good things, and to wear good clothes, 
and to get money, you will have to do 
what many foolish, wicked people do, — 
contrive ways to "kill time." But if 
you measure this life by God's eternity, 
you will see that it is a vapor. You 
have a great work to do, and but little 
time in which to do it. 

What is that great work ? You have 
to learn all about God — about yourself, 
about sin, about Jesus Christ ; — you 
have to repent of sin, and forsake it, to 
live for God, and to see how much good 
you can do before you go down to the 
grave. Time is short to the good man, 



Lectin.] GOD ETERNAL. 167 

The third thing learned The painted boards. 

because he sees that he has so much to 
do ; and the whole hfe passes away 
Hke the morning vapor. 

3. You see why the Bible calls men 
fools^ who live only to he happy in this 
world. 

Most men Kve only to be happy in 
this life. What would you think of a 
man who should get up early and sit up 
late, and work hard all his life long, to 
get a few painted boards together be- 
fore he died? But what else does he 
do, who works hard all his life to get 
him a beautiful house to live in, and 
who gets it just before it is time to die ? 
By doing so, he says, " This house, 
and these painted rooms, are worth 
more than my life, my soul, my God !" 

Some men have been known to work 



168 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. III. 

Furniture . . Honors . . Great thing . . World to be destroyed. 

hard all their lives, just to get some 
handsome furniture in their rooms be- 
fore they died. Are not these foolish 
men? 

Some spend life in crowding and 
pushing, and trying to get into notice 
among men. They want a few honors 
— a little praise ! But in the light of 
eternity, what is this? 

Oh, if each of these children had a 
mountain of silver, and a thousand men 
digging it out — if he had rivers flowing 
over sands which w^ere pure gold — and 
if he had honors around his head as 
bright as the rainbow on the cloud, 
what are all these, when compared to 
God's eternity ? 

Children, you know that God is one 
day going to burn up this world, and 



Lect. III.] GOD A SPIRIT. 169 

Golden knife Why the world destroyed. 

all the beautiful things in it ! Do you 
know why he will do so ? 

Suppose you had a most beautiful 
knife. The blade is made of pure gold, 
and the handle is made of precious 
stones — a most beautiful thing. You 
lay it on the table one day, and a man 
comes in, and snatches up that knife 
and stabs your mother to the heart ! 
The blood gushes out, and she falls 
down at your feet, dead! Tell me, 
now, would you ever want to see that 
knife again ? Would you not want it 
put out of sight? Why? The knife 
is not to blame. True, but you don't 
want to see it. It is the thing; which 
killed your dear mother, and therefore 
you don't wish to see it again. 

So God will one day destroy this 

15 



170 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Led. IIL 

The fourth thing learned. 

wicked world. The earth, and the sun, 
and the moon, have not sinned, but men 
have sinned with them, and therefore, 
God will burn them up, and put them 
out of sight, just as you would the 
knife. All shall pass away and be 
burned up, and yet as far forward as 
you can think, eternity will be only just 
beginning. Is not he a foohsh man 
who lives only to be happy in this life ? 

4. You see how it is that good men put 
their trust in God. 

Those who wish to live in sin, are 
afraid to know all that they can know 
about God. 

But his people ! — Oh, they stand on 
the rock of ages. Storms of sorrow 
may gather over them, — their dearest 
hopes may be cut off, — their most loved 



Lectin.] GOD ETERNAL. 171 

What we need not fear. 

friends be taken away by death, — yes, 
the weaves of sorrow may roll over 
them, deep calling unto deep, — and the 
very grave may be worn out, — the 
earth and the heavens depart as a 
scroll, — all things be seen to crumble to 
ruins, — still they are safe. The eter- 
nal God is their refuge, and nothing 
shall ever hurt them. 

The golden chain which binds all 
holy beings together in love, is held by 
the hand of the eternal God. The eye 
that w^atches over all, never slumbers, 
never sleeps ; — He foresees all things, 
provides for all events. 

Who need be afraid of darkness ? 
Everlasting light is about the throne of 
God. Who need fear sorrow ? Rivers 
of joy flow at his right hand. Who 



172 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. III. 

Who will remain The fifth thing Learned. 

need fear death ? The great fountain 
of life and light is never to be dried up. 

What a thought for a good man! 
His property may perish, — his body 
must perish in the grave, — his family 
melt away and be forgotten, — his name 
on earth perish, — the bright heavens 
over him, the earth on which he treads, 
perish, — all, all will pass away, and be 
no more. But there is One on the 
throne of the heavens, w^hose years 
change not, — the same yesterday, to- 
day, and for ever ! He will live for 
ever, faithful to his promises, and faith- 
ful to bless the pure in heart, for ever. 

5. You see^ once more^ why the Bible 
saysj " It is a fearful thing to fall into 
the hands of the living GodJ^^ 

We forget almost all our sins, but 



Lect. III.] GOD ETERNAL. 173 

Why God is to be feared. 

God ever lives to mark them down 
against us : he ever Hves to remember 
them, and to punish them. He sits 
upon a throne unchangeable, holy, — " a 
consuming fire" to the wicked. He is 
the enemy of all sin, — and the wicked 
cannot stand in his presence. 

My dear children ; — you may forget 
God now^ may live in sin 7iow ; and life 
may pass away, and ages may roll 
away, but God remains, and will punish 
sin. 

There is no shaking off his power, — 

no escaping his presence, — no living 

beyond his years ! Is it, then, a httle 

matter, whether you and I have this 

God for our friend, or our enemy, 

during everlasting ages? 

If we disobey him, he lives for 
15* 



174 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. III. 

His anger Beautiful prayer. 

ever to punish sin. Do you wonder, 
then, that I would persuade you to 
break off from your sins, — from all sin, 
lest he come in his wrath, " in flaming 
fire, with the holy angels, and punish 
you with everlasting destruction from 
the presence of the Lord, and from the 
glory of his power." 

Let us offer this beautiful prayer 
together before we close. 

" O Thou, who redeemest the weak one at length, 
And scourgest the strong in the pride of his 

strength — 
Who holdest the earth and the sea in thine hand, 
And rulest Eternity's shadowy land — 

To Thee let our thoughts and our offerings tend, 
Of virtue the hope — and of sorrow the friend, — 
Let the incense of prayer still ascend to thy 

throne, — 
Omnipotent — Glorious — Eternal, alone." 

Amen. 



LECTURE IV. 



GOD IS EVERYWHERE, 



" Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall 
not see him? saith the Lord^ — Jer. xxiii. 24. 



A question — How know we are here — How men 
see things — How God sees things — First jaroo/*-— that 
God is everywhere — Abraham — Joseph — David — Jo- 
nah — Daniel — The Furnace — African desert — Sailor- 
boy — The poor soldier — Thomas Paine — -The moun- 
tain-top — Second proof — that God is everywhere — 
Bible proof — Clouds — Storms — Mind — Sinning heart — 
Young raven's cry — God in heaven — God on earth — 
In all parts — Special presence — First example — 
Second example — Third example — The wind, the fire, 
and the earthquake — Fourth example — Awful mur- 
der — Mr. White — Beautiful description of it — The 
chamber — The blow — The deed done — The secret — 
Secret not safe — The anguish of spirit — Conscience — 
God in the conscience — First thing taught by this 
Lecture — The eye that sleeps not — Story of Lafayette 

(175) 



176 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. IV. 

A question How know we are here. 

— The eye — Second thing taught — How God sees 
everywhere — The little cabinet — The last thing 
taught — The little seed — God present in troubles — 
God with the poor — The orphan child — Conclusion. 

Suppose on going home to-day it be 
asked you, "who was in the pulpit?'' 
You would at once answer the question. 
But suppose it be asked again, how you 
know that I was in the pulpit? You 
would say, because I saw him, heard 
his voice, heard him say some things 
with which I was pleased, and some 
w^hich were not so pleasant. 

How do / know that I am present ? 
Because I can see every part of the 
church, look on every face, and hear 
every noise. 

But you see at once that I can look 
only at one place, or on one face, at 
the same moment; — that I can hear 



Lect IV.] GOD IS EVERYWHERE. 177 

How 771671 see tilings How Gcd sees things. 

only one noise, and can think only one 
thought, at a time. 

So I might stand on the top of the 
high mountain, and look off and see 
other mountains rising up all around 
me, — micrht see clouds rolling below 
me ; might see rivers and lakes, cities 
and villages ; but I could see only one 
object at a time, and if that was at a 
distance, I should see it very dimly and 
poorly. 

Now this is not what I mean when 1 
say, that God is everywhere present, at 
all times, and in all places; but I mean, 
that he is so present everywhere, that 
he sees all that can be seen, and knows 
all that can be known. 

Ascend up into heaven, and God is 
there; lay your guilty head down in 



178 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. IV. 

First proof, that God is everywhere. 

hell, and he is there ; fly away on the 
wings of the morning light, to the end 
of creation, and he is there; — say to 
the thick darkness, be thou a covering, 
and behold it will be light round about 
you, for there is no place where the 
workers of iniquity can hide themselves 
from God. 

I am now going to prove that God is 
everywhere present, and then I am go- 
ing to make the subject teach you some 
good things. 

There are two proofs which I shall 
offer. 

1. All men^ in all ages^ believe that 
God is everywhere present. 

When Adam was in the beautiful 
garden of Eden, he heard God walking 
there in the cool of the day ; and long 



Lect. IV.] GOD IS EVERYWHERE. 179 

Abraham Joseph David. 

after they had been shut out of the gar- 
den, Abel knew that God was in the 
places where he was, and so he built 
altars, and offered sacrifices to God. 

Abraham heard the commands of 
God in his distant country, and felt that 
God was with him; and in all places 
where he wandered, he built his altars 
and put up his prayers. 

Joseph knew that God was present 
when he was at home at his father's ta- 
ble ; and he knew that he was present 
when he was shut up in prison far away, 
off down in the land of Egypt. 

David was a shepherd's boy, and 
when he was keeping the sheep alone 
in the field, — when he was chased on the 
mountains by Saul, like a hunted par- 
tridge, when he was on the bed of sick- 



180 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. IV. 

Jonah Daniel. 

ness, when he was on the field of battle, 
and when he was on the throne, he 
knew that God w^as present. 

You have read how Jonah once 
thought that he could flee away from 
the presence of the Lord. What folly ! 
God followed him, walking on the wings 
of the wind ; and you soon hear the 
poor man calling upon God in the belly 
of the fish, far down in the great 
waters, and he knew that God was 
there to hear him. (Jonah, chap, i 
and ii.) 

Daniel knelt in his chamber in prayer, 
and felt that God w^as there : and when 
down in the den among the lions, he 
felt that God was there also, and would 
hear his prayer. 

In Jerusalem they w^orshipped God 



Lect. IV.] GOD IS EVERYWHERE. 181 

The furnace African desert. 

his altar was there ; but when Shadrach, 
Meshech, and Abednego, (Dan. iii.) 
were cast into the burning furnace, they 
felt that God was there also. 

Suppose you go away from your 
home among strangers ; do you not feel 
that God is there, as really, as when at 
home by your own father's fire-side? 
You might be travelling in the Great 
Desert of Africa ; you might faint with 
hunger, and he down alone to die. As 
you look around on the barren sand, 
you see a little sprig of green moss by 
your head. It is all alone, and beauti- 
ful. Do you not at once feel that God 
is there, taking care of that little green 
thing, and that he will be there to hear 
you pray? 

The poor sailor boy has not been 
16 



182 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. IV. 



Sailor boy Poor soldier. 

taught any thing about God ; and yet, 
when he is ship-wrecked, and hangs to 
the wreck of the vessel all night by a 
httle rope, amid the darkness of night, 
and the roar of the storm, and the 
raging of the seas, he feels that God is 
there. He calls upon God in prayer, 
and knows that no darkness can shut 
him from the eye of God, and no roar 
of the storm can shut his prayer from 
the ear of God. 

A poor soldier was found among the 
dying and the dead in a hospital away 
in a distant land, forsaken by all human 
beings — not a friend or relation near 
him ; but he felt that God was there, 
and God would hear his prayer for his 
poor widowed mother, even when he 
was far too near death to make that 



Lect. IV.] GOD IS EVERYWHERE. 183 

Thomas Paine The mountain-top. 

prayer with words, or even to move his 
lips. 

Men often neglect God, forsake him, 
and Hve in sin ; but when they come to 
be in trouble, they always feel that God 
is present. Even Thomas Paine, on 
his dying bed, filthy, loathsome, and 
forsaken, could not help crying out, 
" Lord Jesus, help me." This he did 
often. Ah ! with all his infidelity, his 
boasting how he was not afraid to die, 
and that he would live and die an infi- 
del, he felt afraid to die, — he knew that 
the Lord Jesus was present, and he felt 
that he needed his help. 

Why, if you were to go to the top 
of the highest mountain, where the 
snow and ice have hung ever since cre- 
ation, you would feel that God was 



184 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. IV. 

Second proof, that God is everywhere. 

there. You might go into a cave so 
deep that not a ray of Ught ever entered 
it, and you would feel that God was 
there. 

Oh! the time will never come, and 
the spot will never be found, where 
your soul will not feel that God is pre- 
sent. You will always^ in time and in 
eternity, feel God to be with you. 

2. God is seen to he everywhere pre^ 
sent by what he is always doing. 

In the spring, the herb, the grass, and 
the flower, awake from the sleep of the 
winter's jji^ave, and the world is all 
clothed in green. A new generation 
of birds are batched in the trees, and 
swarms of little fish come into life in 
the waters, and multitudes of insects 
burst their shel], and come buzzing and 



Lect. IV.] GOD IS EVERYWHERE. 1S5 

Bible proof. 

joyful into life. Is there not a God 
present to create all these ? What says 
the Bible? 

" In him we live and move and have 
our being/' "Thou, even thou, art 
Lord alone: thou hast made heaven, 
the heaven of heavens with all their 
host, the earth, and all things that are 
therein, the seas, and all that is therein, 
— and thou preservest them all, and the 
host of heaven worshippeth thee." 
" Thy mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens, 
and thy faithfulness reacheth into the 
clouds. Thou preservest man and 
beast. When thou openest thy hand, 
they are filled with good ; thou hidest 
thy face, they are troubled ; thou takest 
away their breath, they die, — they re- 
turn to the dust. Thou sendest forth 
16* 



186 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. IV. 



Clouds Storms. 



thy spirit, — they arc created : thou re- 
newest the face of the earth." 

Does the earth droop because it is 
dry, and the clouds drop down no rain ? 
It is because God shutteth up the hea- 
vens, and maketh the heavens brass, 
and the earth iron, and the rain powder 
and dust. (1 Kings, xviii.) 

Do the hons come up and slay the 
people of Samaria ? It is because God 
is there and sends them. (2 Kings, 
xvii. 25.) 

Do the storms rage and the winds 
blow, and destroy the harvests and the 
houses of men ? God is there, walking 
on the wings of the wind, — making the 
winds his messengers, and the light- 
nings his servants to destroy, whenever 
he sends them. (Psalms, xviii.) 



Lect. IV.] GOD IS EVERY WHERE. 187 

Mind Sinning heart. 

Does your mind grow in knowledge 
and understanding ? It is because God 
is there, and " in his light we see light," 
and " he lighteth every man that cometh 
into the world," (John i. 9.) 

Do you ever desire to obey your 
God, and to do your duty? He is 
there — at work at your wdll, " working 
in you both to will and to do of his 
good pleasure." (Phil. ii. 13.) 

Do you shut out light and harden the 
heart ? God is there to aid you, as a 
punishment. He " sends strong delu- 
sions that men should believe a lie." 
" Go, make the heart of this people fat, 
and make their ears heavy, and shut 
their eyes, lest they should see with 
their eyes, and hear with their ears." 

Do we lie dov/n on the bed of death ? 



188 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. IV. 



Young raven's cry God in heaven. 

" To the Lord belongeth the issues 
from death, — he bringeth down to the 
grave." 

Does the young raven cry ? God is 
there to hear that cry, and to feed the 
senseless bird. Does the sparrow fly ? 
God is there to direct the Httle bird 
where to stop for food, and where and 
how it shall die. Does a hair drop 
from your head? That mighty One 
who " calleth the stars by their name, 
and telleth their number," counteth the 
hairs of your head, and directs how 
and when each one shall fall. 

It is easy to think and to believe that 
God is in yonder heavens, witnessing 
the flight of the great angel on the 
wing, — and listening to the song of 
the seraph before the throne, — but 



Lect. IV.] GOD IS EVERYWHERE. 189 



God in earth — in all parts Special presence. 

God's presence means more than all 
this : — 

It means, that the same God who 
directs the flight of the angel, — who con- 
trols the devils in their prison under 
chains of darkness, — who rolls the sun 
and the stars in their path of light — 
is present to see every motion of every 
little fin down in the chambers of the 
great ocean, — to see every leap of the 
timid deer in the wilderness, — to hear 
every roar of the hon in the desert, — 
every cry of the bittern on the ruins of 
old Babylon, every pelican in the wil- 
derness, and every shaking of the leaf 
in the forest, on wdiich the insect is se- 
curely sleeping ! 

But there is a sense in which God is 
said to be present, different from all 



190 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. IV. 

First example. 

this. It is called his special presence. 
By this is meant, that in some places^ 
at some times^ God is so present, that 
his holiness is felt. For example, 

1. God is said thus to be present in 
heaven. 

When Israel was in the wilderness, 
God was with them in every part of 
the camp : but his cloud and his pillar 
of fire hung over the tabernacle, or 
tent, reared for him, and his glory hung 
over the mercy-seat, and he was said to 
be present there^ as he was present no 
where else. 

In this sense, he is present in heaven. 
There he is seen face to face ; — there is 
worshipped by his great family; there 
is seen by ten thousand times ten thou- 
sand, from every people and tongue and 



Lect. IV.] GOD IS EVERYWHERE. 191 



Second example. 



nation, who cease not day and night to 
praise him for ever. There he is pre- 
sent, as he is present no where else. 

2. God is said to be specially present 
in his house of worships Uke this in 
which we are now met. 

In all other places God is present 
wdth you : but it is in his house that he 
has recorded his name, and he will be 
present to do you good. You here 
pray, and the prayer goes at once to 
his ear ; you here sing his praise, and 
the song at once reaches him ; you here 
sigh that you are a poor sinner, and he 
is at your side to hear that sigh. This 
makes the word of God so much like a 
sharp two-edged sword; and this is the 
reason why we seldom see a man, who 
has constantly been to the house of 



192 CHARACTER OF GOD. Lect. IV. 

The wind, fire and earthquake Third example. 

God since he was a child, Hve and die 
without being a pious man. 

3. God is specially present by the Holy 
Spirit. 

You know that the strong wind may 
blow, and even tear up the mountains ; 
but God is not specially present in the 
wind. The fire may kindle, and burn- 
ing coals go before him ; but the Lord 
is not specially in the fire. The earth- 
quake may shake the mountains, and 
crumble the rocks in pieces; but the 
Lord is not specially in the earthquake. 
Then comes "the small, still voice," 
takinoj hold of the soul, makinoj us feel 
that we are sinners, going to the heart 
and shewing us our sins, and this is the 
special presence of God. It is the holy 
spirit deahng with the soul. 



Lect IV.] GOD IS EVERYWHERE. 193 

Fourth example Awful Murder — Mr. White. 

There is one more place where you 
may find the special presence of God. 
I mean, 

4. Your own conscience. 

Do you not know what I mean ? 
Have you never heard something, or 
felt something in your heart, which told 
you that your soul is black Avith sin? 
Did not conscience ever show you that 
you are a sinner, — and then make you 
afraid of God, afraid of dying, and 
afraid of all that is beyond the grave ? 

I will tell you what I mean by having 
God in the conscience. 

A few years ago, a rich and respect- 
able old gentleman, by the name of 
WmTE, in Salem, Mass., was found 
murdered in his bed. The whole town 
and region were moved ; and for a long 
17 N 



104 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect IV 

Beautiful description of it. 

time, it seemed as if the murderer could 
not be found out. If ever murder could 
be concealed, it would seem as if this 
might be. Let me describe the awful 
scene in the words of a great man. 

" The aged man was without an ene- 
my in the world, in his own house, and 
in his own bed. Deep sleep had fallen 
upon the destined victim, and on all 
beneath his roof. A healthful old man, 
to whom sleep was sweet, — the first 
sound slumbers of the night held him 
in their soft, but strong embrace. The 
assassin enters, through the window 
already prepared, into an unoccupied 
apartment. With noiseless foot he 
paces the lonely hall, half-lighted by the 
moon : he winds up the ascent of the 
stairs, and reaches the door of the 



Lect IV.] GOD IS EVERYWHERE. 195 

The chamber The blow. 

apartment. Of this he moves the lock, 
by soft and continued pressure, till it 
turns on its hinges without noise: he 
enters, and beholds his victim before 
him." 

"The room was uncommonly open 
to the admission of light. The face 
of the innocent sleeper was turned from 
the murderer, and the beams of the 
moon, resting on the gray locks of his 
aged temple, showed him where to 
strike !" 

"The fatal blow is given; and the 
victim passes, without a struggle or a 
motion, from the repose of sleep to the 
repose of death ! It is the assassin's 
purpose to make sure work ; and he yet 
plies the dagger, though it was obvious 
that life had been destroyed by the 



196 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. IV. 

The deed done The secret. 

blow of the bludgeon. He even raises 
the aged arm, that he may not fail in 
his aim at the heart, and replaces it 
again over the wounds of the poniard. 
To finish the picture, he explores the 
wrist for the pulse. He feels it, and 
ascertains that it beats no longer!" 

"It is accomplished! The deed is 
done ! He retreats, retraces his steps 
to the window, passes out through it as 
he came in, and escapes. He has done 
the murder ! — no eye has seen him, no 
ear has heard him. The secret is his 
own, and it is safe .'" 

" Ah ! that was a dreadful mistake ! 
Such a secret can be safe nowhere ! 
The whole creation of God has neither 
nook nor corner, where the guilty can 
bestow it and say it is safe." 



Lect. IV.] GOD IS EVERYWHERE. 197 



Secret not safe The anguish of the spirit. 

Ah ! there is an eye, which runs 
through all the earth, piercing through 
all disguises, beholding every thing as 
in the splendors of noon — the eye of 
God, everywhere present ! 

But this is not all. God is now in 
the conscience of this murderer. He 
labors to hide his guilt deep in the 
heart, away from the eye of man. But 
oh ! now begins his misery. He feels 
as if a serpent were gnawdng at his 
heart, and he dares not tell God or man. 
He feels this serpent beating at his 
heart, rising up to his throat, and de- 
manding that the secret be confessed. 
He thinks the whole world sees it in his 
face, reads it in his eyes, and almost 
hears its workings in the very silence 

of his thoughts. The heavens and the 

17* 



198 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. IV. 

Conscience God in the conscience. 

earth seem to be ready to cry out, 
there is blood on his soul. It rings in 
his ears day and night, and he can 
say, 

" O, it is monstrous ! monstrous ! 
Methought the billows spoke and told me of it ; 
The winds did sing it to me ; and the thunder, 
That deep and dreadful organ-pipe, pronounced 
The name of murder .^" 

The murderer may do the deed, and 
walk away in darkness and silence, 
with a " tread so softly, that the blind 
mole may not hear a foot-fall,'' but all 
will not do. His conscience breaks his 
courage, betrays his guilt, takes away 
his prudence ; and he must confess the 
murder, or he must take his own life, 
and this is confession. 

Ah ! God is in the conscience^ and he 
makes the worm gnaw, and the fire 



Lect. IV.] GOD IS EVERYWHERE. 199 

First thing taught hy this Lecture. 

burn, till the soul of the sinner is in an 
agony. When most alone, when most 
hid in his own heart, and most buried 
in his own thoughts, God is nearest 
him. And there, in the conscience of 
the wicked, wdll he ever be, to awaken 
the worm, and to kindle the fires that 
shall never go out. 

Now let me show you what you 
ought to be taught from the truth that 
God is everywhere present. 

1. You ought to he afraid to sin. 

We are apt to feel that God sees 
great, open, daylight sins, but that he 
does not notice little sins, as we call 
them. This is a great mistake. 

You go out into the crowded street 
of the city, and God is there, walking 
the street with you. You go in, and 



200 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. IV. 



The eye — that sleeps not. 



shut the door, but you do not shut him 
out. You hght the lamp, and he is 
there ; you blow it out, and he is there 
stilL You sin, it may be in the dark, 
or you may sin out of the sight of man, 
or you sin in your own heart ; or you 
sin by deceiving : but let me tell you 
that there is an eye upon you which 
never sleeps over sins, — which never 
winks at iniquity. Oh ! if you feel 
that you must sin, — that you cannot 
break it off, then go, go somewhere, 
where his eye cannot see you, — for 
there only are you safe ! Oh ! if you 
would but think that the great eye of 
God is upon you for ever, — that his 
mighty arm is ever raised to crush you, 
surely you would be afraid to sin ! 
How dreadful is the eye of God on 



Lect. IV.] GOD IS EVERYWHERE. 201 

Story of Lafayette. — The eye. 

him who wants to sin ! Do you know 
about Lafayette^ that great man, who 
was the friend of Washington ? He 
tells us that he was once shut up in a 
little room in a gloomy prison, for a 
great while. In the door of his little 
cell was a small, very small hole cut. 
At that hole, a soldier was placed day 
and night to watch him. All he could 
see was the soldier's eye ; but that eye 
was always there ! Day and night, 
every moment when he looked up, he 
always saw that eye ! Oh ! he says it 
was dreadful ! There w^as no escape, 
no hiding ; when he lay down, and when 
he rose up, that eye was watching him ! 
How dreadful will the eye of God be 
upon the sinner, as it watches him in 
the eternal world for ever ! Who would 



202 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. IV. 



Second thing taught How to see God everywhere. 

be such a sinner? I trust and pray, 
not any of you. 

2. You should never forget that God 
is everywhere present. 

When you come into the house of 
God, when you kneel in prayer at home, 
or anywhere, remember that God is 
there to see the heart, as well as to hear 
the words, and you will be more likely 
to worship him in spirit and in truth. 
In your treatment of your parents, bro- 
thers and sisters, and friends, remember 
that God is always present. When you 
talk^ you talk in the presence of your 
Maker. In the sunshine, you see the 
brightness of God: in the heat, you 
feel him warming you : in the rain and 
the dew, it is he refreshing you : in your 
food, it is he strengthening you : in your 



Lect. IV.] GOD IS EVERYWHERE. 203 

The little cabinet. 

sleep, it is he restoring your weary 
body. If you abuse yourself by eating 
too much, or drinking too much, or 
sleeping too much, he is there to see 
you do it. Your heart should be his 
temple: O do not pollute it, — do not 
defile it by sin. 

Every creature around you, every 
limb of your body, every chamber of 
your heart, ought to be a little cabinet 
in which God v>^ill stay, and do you 
good. Enoch thus walked with God, 
conversing with him in spirit, asking 
advice when he needed it, — weeping 
when he felt his sins, — obeying God as 
his king, — loving him as his father, — 
and walking and hving as if God was 
always at his side. 

3. You see that if God is everywhere 



204 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect IV. 

The last thing taught The little seed. 

present^ he can comfort us in trouble and 
in sorrow. 

The thought that God so fills heaven 
and earth that he can at the same mo- 
ment attend to the wants of every crea- 
ture, even to the hairs of the head, — is 
an amazing thought ! It is easy to be- 
lieve that he attends to the song of the 
burning seraph before his throne, — that 
he can guide the sun and the great 
planets through their paths in the hea- 
vens. But it is not easy to conceive 
how he can so be present everywhere, 
by his power and action, as to direct 
the motion of the small seed which the 
wind blows from the flower, and go with 
that little seed and plant it ! — as to di- 
rect the little worm where to place 
every foot as he creeps; — as to help 



Lect. IV.] GOD IS EVERYWHERE. 205 

God present in troubles. 

every little insect to open his wings and 
fly away ; — as to be with the mite 
which hangs on the leaf and dies there ! 
Yet God does all this — for he is every- 
where ! Oh ! he does it all ! 

When he places you in troubles like 
the furnace, he is there to see that only 
the dross is melted away. When you 
go into sorrows like deep waters, he is 
there to see that they do not drown 
you. In trouble, then, be patient, and 
hope, for God is there to give strength, 
and to heal the wounds which he makes. 
He can turn sorrow into joy, and 
through thick clouds, can pour sunshine 
and peace : he can look and show his 
face through deep darkness. Are you 
weak ? He is there to give you strength. 

Are you a poor child, and do you need 
18 



206 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Led, IV. 

God with the poor The orphan child. 

some one on whom to lean ? God is 
always near you, and the silver and the 
gold, and the cattle upon a thousand 
hills, and the riches of eternity, are his. 
Are you sick, and do you love to have 
a physician come to your bed-side ? 
God is the great Physician who can 
heal both soul and body, — make your 
bones to rejoice, and your soul to re- 
joice in his salvation. 

Are any of you orphan children, 
whose father or mother sleeps in the 
grave ? Ah ! God is present, a father 
to the fatherless, a shelter to the home- 
less, a refuge to the needy ; and he says 
to you, " I will never leave nor forsake 
you." 

Oh! children, God is here now, — 
seeing you all, and taking notice how 



Lect IV.] GOD IS EVERYWHERE. 207 

Conclusion. 

you keep the Sabbath. You will now 
go home, to begin a new week ; but do 
not forget that in all that you are, and 
do, God is with you, and his eye rests 
upon you/ 

If you will be his children, he will be 
with you in sorrows and troubles to de- 
liver you; — in the hour of dying, to 
keep and comfort you ; and in all the 
ages of eternity, to make you happy 
and blessed. 

But oh ! if you choose to be wicked, 
he will still be with you ; — will go with 
you ; — will reckon up your sins ; — will 
write up your iniquities ; and as long as 
your immortal soul lives, through all 
eternity, you can never go, or be, — 
where a holy God is not with you! 
Amen. 



LECTURE V. 



GOD WISE. 

David — The soul wants a house — The soul's ser- 
vants — The telescope — The eye more curious — How 
the eye keeps clean and safe — The frame of the house 
— The man of steel — The curious chain — The pump 
— Little channels — The house repaired — Witnesses 
against poison — The blood — The daily physician — 
Why we are born without dress — The elephant's head 
—The oyster — The muscle — The little bird — Birds 
wear spectacles — Little mill — Elephant's trunk — The 
rein-deer — The whale's great coat — The clamp-fish — 
Food prepared everywhere — The ship of the desert — 
The soft, spongy foot — The little songster — The shark 
—The pilot friend — Very small watch — The insect — 
The strawberry-pot — Instinct — The young hen and 
the hawk — The beaver — How to build a dam — The 
bee — Infancy — Mother's love — The great basin — How 
rain made — The ocean a great blessing — Faces not 
alike — Men cannot write alike — The tongue and the 
ear — Day and night — The Bible — How proved from 
God — Jesus Christ — The wisdom of God seen — Who 
sees it— The world to be destroyed — New heavens 
hereafter — The little top — What God will do hereafter. 

18* O (209) 



210 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. V 

David The soul wants a house. 

David looked at himself, and saw- 
that he was wonderfully and fearfully 
made ; and in the making of his body, 
he saw the skill and wisdom of God. 
Let me do so too. 

The soul is a spirit, and it must have 
a house to live in. It must be not 
merely a house for the soul to live in, 
but such a house as could live in any 
country, and in any climate; a house 
that could move about whenever the 
soul w^ished to move it. What would 
be the best form of this house ? What 
kind of servants shall she have, upon 
which she may call, thousands of times 
every day ? Let us now^ see. 

The feet must carry the house about ; 
the hands do whatever she wants done ; 
the eyes let her know what is doing all 



Lect. V GOD WISE. 211 

The soul's servants The telescope. 

around her ; the ear lets her know what 
other minds think and feel and desire ; 
and the tongue carries her wishes and 
feelings to other minds. The eyes are 
the windows through which the soul 
looks out ; and ought not the windows 
to be in front, and up in top of the 
house, so that the soul can see as much 
as possible ? Where should the ear be, 
but near the brain, to let the soul know 
quickly what it hears ? Where should 
the feet be, but under the whole house, 
to move it at every step ? 

Children, did you ever hear of a 
telescope? It is a curious thing, by 
which men look at the stars. It has 
cords, and pulleys, and wheels, and a 
great deal of machinery by which to 
turn it round, and point it any way ; 



212 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Led, V. 

The eye more curious. 

but after all, it is not half as wonderful 
as the eye. The eye has six little 
strings fixed to it, by which we turn it 
any way. If you wish to read through 
a telescope across this house, and then 
wish to look off at a great distance, 
you must alter it by screws, and other 
ways, and it is a great work to alter it. 
But now look at me. I stoop down as 
you see, and read this paper in my 
hand, and the next moment I look up 
to that further window beyond the or- 
gan in the gallery, and my eye alters 
itself so as to see in either place in an 
instant ! If the eye had been square 
instead of round, would it have turned 
so easily as now ? If there had been 
only one eye, instead of two, could it 
have seen as much, and if it had hap- 



Lect v.] GOD WISE. 213 

How the eye kept clean and safe . . . The frame of the house. 

pened to be put out, would not the soul 
be left in darkness ? There is a little 
stream of water running into the eye 
every moment, to keep it soft, and a 
hole bored through the bone of the 
nose, to carry off what is not used in 
the eye ! How came that little covering 
over the eye, which washes it, and 
keeps it clean, and which defends it 
from harm, — which has the little skirt 
of fringe around it to keep out the in- 
sects while you sleep ? How happens 
it that this little covering comes down 
and closes the eye when you sleep, and 
cannot take care of it ? Do you not 
here see God's wisdom in thi^? 

Let us look at this house of the soul 
still more. The hones are the frame of 
the bouse. Now there are two hundred 



214 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. V. 

A man of steel A curious chain. 

and forty of these little timbers in your 
body, and every joint in the right place 
and of the right kind. These joints 
are tied together with little cords, so 
that every joint plays easily, and is 
amazingly strong. But why do not 
these joints wear out? Make a man 
of steely and use his joints as much 
every day, and he will soon wear out. 
But every joint in your body is oiled 
and refitted every day, so that there is 
no wearing out. Is not all this wise ? 
Suppose a man could make a chain 
with twenty-four links, which could 
turn every way, and be so strong as to 
support itself upright, and hold up a 
great weight ; would he not be a 
curious man? But the back-bone is 
like this. It has twenty-four joints. 



Lect v.] GOD WISE. 215 

The pump Little channels. 

turns every way, is very strong, and 
supports the whole body. What a 
wise Being was he who planned all 
this! 

The heart is a kind of pump in the 
very middle of the house ; it goes day 
and night, whether we are awake or 
asleep, and opens and shuts more than 
sixty times every minute of our lives. 
In a man, it drives twenty-five pounds 
of blood through every part of the body 
once in four minutes all his life. There 
are little channels running all over the 
body, through which the blood runs; 
and these httle brooks are so small and 
so thick together, that you cannot stick 
the point of the smallest needle into 
yourself anywhere, without hitting one 



216 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. V. 

Tbe house repaired Witnesses against poison. 

of these little channels, and making the 
blood come. 

This house wears out by using it all 
the time, and how is it to be repaired ? 
You feel hungry, and this is the sign 
that it needs repairing. The earth and 
the waters give you food; the fire is 
ready to cook it. But some things are 
poison ; but the nose is close by the 
mouth, and the eyes are there, and the 
taste is there, and all are ready to tell 
you whether you are about to eat poi- 
son. Who put these three witnesses 
just here, where they are most needed ? 
Who made you feel hungry^ so that the 
repairing the house should not be for- 
gotten ? Who put the taste in the mouth, 
so that you would love to eat ? Who 
placed the teeth in the right place, to 



Lect. v.] GOD WISE. 217 



The blood A daily physician. 



prepare the food for the stomach ? You 

swallow your food, and there is a liquid 

in the stomach w^hich will melt and eat 

it all away, — and which will eat any 

thing, except the stomach itself, and 

thus the food is made into blood, and 

then the heart drives it through the 

little channels into every part of the 

body. A part of it becomes bone, a 

part hair, a part flesh. What is not 

thus used, goes into the lungs where 

the air comes, and washes it, and then 

away it goes again all over the body ! 

The body becomes w^eary, and is 

wearing down every day. But we have 

a physician to heal it. Sleep is that 

physician. It does not wait to be sent 

for; it comes whether we will or not. 

It does not come now and then, but 
19 



218 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. V. 



Why we are born without dress The elephant's head. 



statedly every day, because we every 
day need him. The heart beats, and 
the blood flows out every moment ; but 
if we had to keep the heart beating, we 
could not sleep ; or if we did, we should 
die during the first sleep. 

If men had come into the world all 
clothed like a sheep, they could live 
only in the cold climates ; if they had 
only a very thin covering, they could 
live only in the scorching climate where 
the camel lives ; but they are born 
naJced^ so that they can clothe them- 
selves for any climate. Was not this 
wise in God ? Is not this house in 
w^hich the soul lives a wonderful thing ? 
How very wise must He be, who 
made it? 

Did you ever see an elephant ? What 



Lcct. V.J GOD WISE. 219 

The oyster The muscle. 

a great head he carries — a head which 
weighs hundreds of pounds? So has 
the ox a great head, and these are to be 
held up, and off from the body, just as 
you w^ould hold up a weight at arm's 
length. How do they support this 
heavy head ? Why, there are two 
strong cords running along on the top 
of the neck, which fasten and hold the 
head to the back ! We carry our head 
up straight, and do not need such cords ; 
and we have none. Is not this wise ? 

The oyster cannot move to get out of 
the way, and why do not the fish eat 
him up ? Because God has made his 
bones grow on the outside ! The shell 
is the bone. The little muscle hves 
where the waters foam and dash, and 
how is he to be safe? He can spin 



220 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. V. 



The little bird Birds wear spectacles. 

little threads about half as long as my 
finger, and he often fastens himself to 
the rock, by at least one hundred and 
fifty of these little cables ? How wise 
was He who thus gave this frail little 
creature safe moorings amid the angry 
waters where it was born, and where is 
its home. 

The little bird can dart through the 
woods, and hit twigs and limbs hundreds 
of times, and yet not hurt his eye. 
And the eagle can rise up and look the 
sun full in the face and not hurt his 
eye. How is this ? Because they have 
a little covering for the eye, which they 
can draw down over it, and which is 
hard and able to keep it safe. This is 
a kind of spectacle^ which shades and 
defends the eye, and yet allows the 



Lect. v.] GOD WISE. 221 

The little mill The elephant's trunk. 

swift mover to see through it. Who 
made these curious spectacles ? 

The food must be ground before it 
can become blood. Most creatures 
have teeth to grind the food ; but the 
little bird must have a small head, so 
tl^t he can' fly, and therefore he cannot 
have teeth ; but God has given him a 
powerful little mill between the mouth 
and stomach, which can grind almost 
any thing, and prepare it for blood. It 
is called the gizzard ; and wise was He 
who planned it. 

The elephant goes naked. He can 

carry between three and four thousand 

pounds on his back. But if he had 

been placed at the north, he would have 

frozen to death. He has a curious 

trunk, as it is called, with which he can 
19* 



222 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. V. 

Rein-deer The whale's great-coat. 

thread a needle, and do almost any 
thing which our hands can do. There 
are more than forty thousand little parts 
to this trunk, each one of which is 
under the direction of the elephant ! 
What a wonderful machine ! 

The Rein-deer is covered with warm 
furs ; this would kill him, if he lived in 
a hot climate ; but he lives in cold 
Greenland and Lapland, and his home 
and his dress are wisely made for each 
other. 

The whale is born among the moun- 
tains of ice which hang around each 
pole. Why does he not freeze ? Be- 
cause God has wrapped him up in a 
great-coat of fat, which, in the thinnest 
places, is at least two feet thick! 

There is in the Indian seas, a fish of 



Lcct. V. GOD WISE. 223 

The clamp-fish Food prepared everywhere. 

the oyster-kind, called the great clamp- 
fish. One of them was caught which 
weighed five hundred and thirty-two 
pounds, and which fed one hundred and 
twenty men ! Why do not the great 
fish eat up this delicious oyster ? Be- 
cause he can shut his shell together so 
tight as to cut the great cable of a ship 
in two. Who gave him this power by 
which to defend himself? 

The pig, the cow^, the horse, the 
sheep, and the goat, are the most useful 
creatures to men. They are wanted 
every where, where men live. But all 
kinds of food will not grow every 
where. Now the fact is, there are 
seventy-two kinds of food which the 
pig will eat ; two hundred and sixty- 
two which the horse will eat ; two hun- 



224 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. V. 

The ship of the desert. 

dred and eighty-seven which the sheep 
will eat ; and four hundred and forty- 
nine which the goat will eat. The 
consequence is, that, carry these crea- 
tures wherever they are wanted, and 
you will find some kind of food which 
they can eat. 

What man could build a ship which 
could pass over the great sandy deserts 
of Africa ? It could not sail like a 
ship on the water ; it could not go on 
wheels like a stage. No man could 
build such a ship. But look at "the 
ship of the desert," which God has 
built. It can carry water in a bag, 
pure and sweet, which will last thirty 
days, and will go thirty miles a day for 
weeks together, and carry eight hun- 
dred pounds weight. It makes no 



Lect v.] GOD WISE. 225 

The soft spongy foot The little songster. 

noise. It never complains. Who made 
it ? All ! the camel^ for this is " the 
ship of the desert," with his soft, 
spongy foot, just fitted for the sands of 
the desert, is made for this very busi- 
ness. The rein-deer, in his soft furs, 
will bound over the snow and the ice 
an hundred miles a day ; but if he and 
the camel were to exchange homes a 
single year, they would both die. The 
sands of the desert did not make the 
soft foot of the camel; nor did the 
foot make the sands ; but God made 
them both, and fitted one for the other. 
Is not this wise ? 

The little bird which comes to your 
door, sings sweetly, and his voice is 
always pleasant ; but the bird which 
sits on the rock in the ocean, amid his 



226 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. V. 

The shark The pilot-friend. 

Stormy, lonely place, has no music in 
his voice. He has a shrill scream 
which can be heard above the roar of 
the storm, and through his noisy hab- 
itation. 

You have heard of the shark. He is 
a hungry creature, and has been known 
to swallow iron, stones, wood, and even 
knives, and any thing that you throw to 
him. Yet he is very near-sighted ; and 
just before him swims a little fish, 
called the "pilot-fish,'' which sees the 
food and conducts the shark to it. But 
let the shark be ever so hungry, he will 
never hurt his little friend. Who 
taught him this ? Again, the shark 
and the duck must both gather their 
food at the mouths of rivers, where the 
water is shoal ; but let the shark be 



Lect. v.] GOD WISE. 227 

A very small watch The insect. 

ever so hungry, he will not touch the 
duck, or any kind of fowl. Who plant- 
ed this dislike to fowl, in the shark ? 
How wise is God in every thing ! 

A most curious workman can make 
a watch so small, that it can be placed 
in the ring which a lady wears upon 
her finger ! How small and nice must 
each wheel and each part be ! Now, 
there is not an insect which flies in the 
air, or creeps on the ground, which is 
not far more curious and wonderful in 
its make. A single insect has been 
found which had over four thousand 
parts, called muscles, each of which 
the little creature could call into use as 
he pleased ! The world is full of such 
curious insects. They swim in our 
water, — they live in every thing. A 



228 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. V. 



The strawberry-pot . . Instinct . . The young hen and the hawk. 

learned French writer says, that he had 
a httle strawberry-vine in a pot, in the 
window of his study, and in three 
weeks nearly forty different kinds of 
insects visited it, with which he became 
acquainted! These all have limbs, 
habits, characters, and homes of their 
own, as really as men have. 

Did you ever hear of such a word as 
instinct ? Do you know what an in- 
stinct is ? The young hen has a brood 
of little chickens following her. She 
never saw a haw^k in her life. She sees 
a small, black speck in the sky, and at 
once utters the cry of danger. That 
httle, distant speck, is a hawk. Her 
young chickens never heard her utter 
that cry before, — but they all run under 
her wings ! Who taught them to do 



Lect. v.] GOD WISE. 229 



The beaver How to build a dam The bee. 

SO ? She utters another cry, and they 
come around her and pick up their 
food. 

You have read of the heaver^ have 
you not ? When he wishes to make a 
pond, he goes to work to build a dam 
across the stream. He goes up the 
stream, and floats the timber down. 
Who told him that he could not float it 
up^ as well as down ? The stream is 
rapid and strong, and therefore he does 
not build his dam straight across the 
stream, but makes it curve up towards 
the stream ! Who taught him that this 
curve w^ould be strong-er than a straight 
dam ? God has so much wisdom, that 
he can lend of it to all the creatures 
w^hich he has made. 

Why does the little Bee divide off 
20 



230 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. V. 

Infancy The mother's love. 

her honey-comb into httle regular cells ? 
Who taught her that it would thus be 
stronger, than if all were made into one 
great basin ? Who told her that if her 
honey were all put together into one 
place, it would turn sour and spoil? 
Does the Bee reason all this out, or is 
it the wisdom of God which you see 
guiding her, so that she make no mis- 
take ? 

All animals love their young, so long 
as they can teach them any thing ; and 
this love ceases as soon as this is the 
case, which is a very short time. 

The infancy of man is long; and 
long does the mother watch and teach 
her child. Nor is this all. Let the 
child be a cripple, or sickly, or deformed, 
and does the mother turn away from it 



LectV.] GOD WISE. 231 

A great basin How rain made. 

with loathing ? Oh ! no. She will 
watch and hang over it for years, and 
undergoing danger or fatigue — which to 
others would be insupportable. And 
who planted such a love in the mother's 
bosom ? And how wise was God, not 
only to plant such a love, but to order 
it so, that the very trouble and anxiety 
should make it deeper and deeper! 

Did you ever look off on the ocean ? 
What a basin of waters ! Ten thou- 
sand miles across one ocean ! And all 
made salt, and rocked by the winds, 
and moved by the tides, lest they should 
become stagnant and spoiled ! Do you 
know how the clouds are made, and 
where the rain and the hail comes from ? 
I will tell you. The vapors rise up 
from the great ocean. The winds drive 



232 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. V. 

The ocean a great blessing. 

them to the land, and they become 
clouds. The cold makes it into hail or 
snow. It falls and waters the earth, 
and gives drink to men and to cattle, 
and then runs off in little brooks and 
great rivers, into the ocean, again to 
rise and become clouds ! How won- 
derful ! So much fresh water to be con- 
tinually made from water that is salt ! 

This is the birth-place of rains and 
dews,* which bless the earth so much. 
Without the ocean, we should all perish 
at once, and there would be neither 
grass, nor flower, man, nor beast, nor 
bird, on the whole earth! And as to 
food, it is supposed that more people 
live by what comes out of the sea, than 
there are who live by what comes from 
the land itself. 



Lect. v.] GOD WISE. 233 

Faces not alike Men cannot write alike. 

Suppose in making men, God had 
made every face alike ! What child 
could know his parents ? Who would 
know their neighbors ? Who would 
know^ an honest man from a thief or a 
robber ? How could it be knov/n, w^hen 
a man w^as robbed or murdered, who 
did it ? Was it not wise so to make 
men, that no two look ahke ? 

No two men are made so exactly 
alike, that they can write exactly alike. 
If you had a paper here, containing the 
hand-writing of every man living, you 
would see that no two write exactly 
alike. This prevents our having coun- 
terfeits and forgeries ; for if every man 
could write just as all the rest do, there 
could be no such thins; as doins^ busi- 
ness. 

20* 



234 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. V. 



The tongue and the ear . . . Day and night . . The Bible. 



The tongue tells others what we 
think ; and the ear tells us what others 
say to us ; and were it not for these 
two little members, we should be but 
little, if any, better than apes. 

Was it not wise in God to give us 
the sun to nour down his light and 
heat, — to measure off the seasons, and 
to give us summer and winter ? 

But we cannot study all the time, nor 
work all the time ; and so God has 
provided day and night, that we might 
have labor and rest just as often as we 
need it, all our life long. Is not this 
wise ? 

But what wdsdom does God show in 
the Bible! 

He wanted to tell us who and what 
he is I and so he taught good men all 



Lect. v.] GOD WISE. 235 

How proved from God Jesus Christ, 

what he is, and what w^e are. He told 
these good men to write it all, so that 
it might be kept from age to age : and 
lest w^e should say, we don't know that 
he sent them, and told them to write 
the book, he gave them power to prove 
that he did send them, by w^orking 
miracles, — such wonders as makmg the 
sun and the moon stand still ; opening 
the sea for his people to w^alk through 
it ; healing the sick, aw^aking the dead, 
and the like. 

He knew that w^e were all sinners, 
and that vve could never of ourselves 
become holy, and come back to him ; 
and so he sent his only Son, Jesus 
Christ, to come down to this world, to 
teach it, to die to save it, and then to 
rise from the dead and go up to heaven, 



236 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. V. 



The wisdom of God seen . . . Who sees the wisdom of God- 



and there take care of his people. I 
could tell you much about this Savior. 
The Bible is full of him ; and I hope 
the time may come, when I shall be 
able to speak to you about him again. 
I mention it now^, because God will 
show^ his wisdom to all heaven, more 
by his redeemed church which will be 
gathered from the earth, than in any 
other way, and in all other w-ays. 

Wicked men, and prayerless men, 
see no wisdom in sending Jesus Christ 
to save this world. Praying men see a 
great deal. They think about this 
more than about all other things. They 
have stronger and sweeter hopes con- 
nected with this, than with anv other 
subject. When they go to the house 
of God on the Sabbath, it is to learn 



Lect. v.] GOD WISE. 037 



The world to be destroyed New heavens hereafter. 



about tiiis Saviour : when they die, hke 
Stephen when he was stoned to death, 
(Acts vii. 60.) they commit their souls 
to him. And in heaven, where all the 
angels are, and where Prophets, and 
Apostles, and all good men who have 
gone up from this world, are, they will 
see Jesus, and praise him, and there 
admire the wisdom of God more and 
more, for ever. 

But this is not all I would say. 
These beautiful heavens are all to be 
destroyed. The sun is to be put out. 
So is the moon. The stars are all to 
fade away in darkness. This charming 
world is all to be burned up and turned 
into ashes. All to be thrown away. 
But God will then build new heavens 
and a new earth, — more perfect, more 



238 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect V. 



New heavens hereafter. 



beautiful than this. It will be made to 
stand for ever. What wisdom will there 
be seen ! Here^ the body has pains and 
aches: there^ it will never have pain. 
Here, we must be fed every day, or we 
starve : there, we can live and neither 
hunger nor thirst. Here we grow old, 
and decay, and die : there, we shall 
never grow old, never become feeble, 
never die. Here we have fears, and 
anxieties, disappointments and griefs: 
there, we shall be free from all these, 
for the former things have passed 
away. 

Oh ! if here, in a world w^here sin is, 
and sorrow is, and where every thing 
tells us that our life is but for a moment, 
there are so many marks of the won- 
derful wisdom of God, how will it be 



Lect. v.] GOD WISE. 239 



The little top What God will do hereafter. 

in that world where the fulness of his 
wisdom will be seen ! 

The father takes out his knife and 
cuts his httle boy a stick, or makes him 
a top — because he is a child ; but is this 
stick or this top any thing to what he 
will do for that child when he becomes 
a man, and needs a house ? No. But 
when he comes to build the house for 
his son, you will see how he will plan 
it, and build it, and make it very perfect 
and very complete. So with God. 
What he gives us here, are only a few 
play-things, as it w^ere ; but when w^e 
come to go to him, in his eternal king- 
dom, what will he not give us ? Oh ! 
if you love and obey his son, what 
wisdom will you not then see ? '^ Eye 
hath not seen, ear hath not heard, nei- 



240 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. V. 

What God will do hereafter. 

ther hath it entered into the heart of 
man, the things which he hath prepared 
for those who love him." May you all 
be there, and see and enjoy it all. 
Amen. 



LECTURE VI. 



GOD KNOWS EVERY THING, 



"Who instructed him?" — Isa. xl. 14 



St. Paul's Cathedral — Christopher Wren — Ship- 
building — The telescope — Wooden man — How we 
know — How God knows — The hird — The oak — The 
eye — First proof — God knows what men will do — Saul 
the king — Cyrus — No low notions of God — Mahomet 
— The nations — Second proof— Got^ knows what men 
will think — Third proof— Go(^ will judge the world — 
The Jews — The murdered man — No concealment — 
What we call knowledge — Real knowledge — How 
men think — Instruction 1 — God not disappointed — The 
tower — Great plans — Wicked plans — Who disappoint- 
ed — Instruction 2 — God do no injustice — How we do 
men injustice — Innocent man hanged — We do God 
injustice — Instruction 3 — The good rewarded — Joseph 
— Job — Martyrs — The father — Mother — Dau cjhter — 
The bright boy — Instruction 4 — We ought to he afraid 
to sin — Day of judgment — what? — Things brought 
out — God looks deep in the heart — Conclusion. 
21 Q (24n 



242 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. VI. 

St. Paul's Cathedral Christopher Wren. 

Did any of these many children pres- 
ent, ever hear of a building called St. 
PauPs Cathedral ? It is in London, and 
it is very large, very high, and very 
beautiful. When people wish to have 
a view of the wholq city, they go up to 
the top and look down. It is so high, 
that men look like little insects, as they 
walk along the streets, and the car- 
riages seem no larger than those in the 
toy-shops. 

Did you ever hear who planned and 
built that wonderful building? His 
name was Christopher Wren ; and his 
name will be known to children who 
shall live thousands of years after you 
and I are dead. How could he rear 
such a building ? Because he had seen 
a thousand buildings before this, and he 



Lect. VI.] GOD KNOWS EVERY THING. 243 



Ship-building The telescope. 



had studied the buildings and the plans 
which other minds in other ages had 
formed. 

When a man would build a great 
ship, he cannot sit down and form the 
plan of a ship, and then go and put it 
together. No. He must go to some- 
body who has seen many ships, and 
planned many, and who has made it his 
study for years. And then we think him 
to be a great man w^ho can build a ship. 

You have heard of a long tube 
through which men look when they 
want to see the stars plainly, — have you 
not ? Can any one of these little boys 
tell me the name of it ? Who can ? 
" Telescope''' — that little girl with a 
brown bonnet on her head, says. — Very 
well. When a man first made a tele- 



244 CHARACTER OF GOD. Lect. VI. 

Wooden man. 

scope, it was considered a wonderful 
thing: but the man copied something. 
Do you know what it was ? It was the 
eye of a man ! and the telescope is per- 
fect and right, if it comes near being 
like the eye. 

They have, too, a kind of wooden 
man, which they carry round to show. 
He can play on the flute, or violin, — 
because he is filled with little wires and 
springs, which move his fingers and 
make him play. But those who make 
these things, only copy. They see men, 
and copy as well as they can ; but after 
all, they can't make one that can walk 
and talk, and read and think^ as you 
can. 

I am going to show you that God 
knows every thing — every thing that 



Lect. VI.] GOD KNOWS EVERY THING. 245 



How we know How God knows. 



ever has been, that now is, that will be, 
or that can be. 

When we know any thing, it is be- 
cause we have seen it, or heard it, have 
examined, and studied it, and taken 
pains to learn about it. But when God 
knows things, he does not have to 
glance the eye, — before we could 
glance the eye, he sees and knows 
every thing. 

When God created things, he had no 
plan, — no model, — no one to tell him 
how to contrive, or how to make them. 

Who told him that fire would give 

out heat and light — before fire was 

made? Who told him that water 

would put out fire, and be good for men 

and cattle to drink when they feel 

thirsty, and good to make the grass and 
21* 



246 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. VI. 

The bird The oak. 

trees green? Who told him that the 
air would be good to breathe, good to 
make every thing hve, even to the 
little blue violet that peeps its head up 
in the crack of the rock ? 

How did God know how to make the 
little bird so that she could balance her- 
self on her wings away up in the air, 
rising up to the very clouds? Who 
told him that her wing must be made 
of feathers, and not of lead, and that 
the wing must have a joint in it, and 
not be one straight bone? 

Who drew the size and the shape of 
the great oak, or of the apple-tree, be- 
fore a tree was ever seen? Who 
" taught him" how to make a house for 
the soul to live in, its shape, and size, 
and hnibs, as your body is made? 



Lect. VI.] GOD KNOWS EVERY THING. 247 

The eye. 

Who told him that a spirit could be put 
into such a house made of the dust of 
the ground, and hve there? 

Your eye lets hght, and the picture 
of houses and trees, and every beauti- 
ful thing you see, into the soul ; but no 
eye had ever been seen when God cre- 
ated it ! Your ear has curious little 
chambers, so that you can hear sweet 
sounds and sweet music ; but no ear had 
ever been seen when God made the ear 
of Adam! Ah! if God could thus 
make the heavens and the earth and the 
great sea, and all things, feed all and 
clothe all, and take care of all, and do 
all this before day or night, or sun or 
moon or light w^as made, must it not be 
that he knows every thing? 



24S CHAFiACTER OF GOD. [Lcct. VL 



First proof . . God knows what men will do . . Saul the king. 

God knows loJiat men will do before 
they know themselves. 

He sent Moses to the great and 
wicked king of Egypt, and told him to 
let his people go : — and he knew exactly 
what the king would do. He . knew he 
would be wicked, and say no. He 
knew just when he would yield, after 
the ten plagues had been sent; — that 
he would follow Israel into the Red 
Sea, and there be drowned. Read this 
wonderful account in the first few chap- 
ters of Exodus. 

Saul was the first king of Israel, and 
God knew before he was made king, 
just what he would do, and how he 
would behave. He knew that Solomon 
would be a great and a wise king, and 



Lect. VI.] GOD KNOWS EVERY THING. 249 

Cyrus No low notions of God. 

would build the great and beautiful 
temple at Jerusalem. 

Hundreds of years before Cyrus was 
born, God knew that he would be born, 
that he would have that name, and do 
just as Cyrus did. 

You all know how Judas sold Jesus 
Christ for a little money; how Pilate 
and Herod killed him ; but for hundreds 
of years before they did these things, 
God knew it all, and told men that they 
would do it, — told for how many pieces 
of money Christ should be sold, — how 
he should die, — how be buried, — how 
long lie in the tomb, and that he would 
rise again. All this God knew from 
eternity. But w^e must not have low 
thoughts of God, and suppose that he 
determined all this should be done, and 



250 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. VI. 

Mahomet The nations. 

then made men do it whether they 
would or not ! Oh, no ! God never 
makes men sin ; but he knew that they 
would choose to do it. 

How could God know that Mahomet, 
that false Arabian Prophet, should be 
born, and should deceive so many peo- 
ple ? Did you ever read the Book ot 
Daniel ? There are some most beau- 
tiful stories in it, and some things hard 
to be understood ; but this we can see, 
that in that book God has foretold that 
many different nations and kingdoms 
would rise up, hundreds of years before 
they were ever known. Again, he 
knew and told when and how they 
should again perish and be no more. 
There he tells about the ruin of great 
Babylon and Persia, — about Alexander, 



Lcct. VI.] GOD KNOWS EVERY THING. 251 

Second proof— Go(i knows what men will think. 

the great murderer, — about Rome, 
which was Hke an image whose foot was 
made of iron and clay, — and about the 
coming of his dear Son, Jesus Christ. 
How could God tell all these things so 
long before they took place, except that 
he knows every thing? 

God knows what men think ^ and 7vhat 
they will think^ before they know them- 
selves. 

He made the heart, and put it all in 
motion, and does he not know what is 
going on in the heart ? How could he 
know, that wicked Judas would sell his 
master, for just thirty pieces of money, 
unless he knew just how much he would 
love money, and just what he w^ould 
think about it ? " There is not a word 
upon the tongue, nor a thought in the 



252 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. VL 

Third proof— GocZ will judge the world. 

heart, but lo ! it is altogether known 
unto thee." 

How did he know that there would 
be men who would scoff, and say, 
" where is the promise of his coming ?" 
— unless he knew just what these men 
would think? And 

The fact that God will judge all 
men^ shows that he knows every thing. 

Men have been in this world nearly 
six thousand years, and all this time 
there have been millions living and 
dyitig. When the end will come, we 
do not know, nor does an angel in hea- 
ven. But the end will come, and then 
all are to be judged. And who are all? 

The wicked spirits who were cast 
out of heaven, are to be judged ; — the 
men who lived before the flood, those 



Lect. VI.] GOD KNOWS EVERY THING. 253 

The Jews The man murdered. 

giants in sin, are all to be judged ; — 
every deed that each one of all these 
has done, is to be called up and judged. 

The Jews who lived and sinned with 
the Bible in their hands, and the Gen- 
tiles who never had the Bible, but 
whose conscience told them they were 
doing wrong — all must be judged. 

The last year, a man was murdered 
over in the western part of Philadelphia, 
near the Schuylkill, and it took all the 
constables, and officers, and judges, 
many weeks to find out all about it, and 
get the testimony, and to judge who did 
it, and what punishment he ought to 
receive. What labor ! What expense 
to find out and punish one single sin ! 

But God will bring to light all that is 

now forgotten, and covered up. Not a 

■22 



254 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. VI. 

No concealment What we call knowledge. 

man ever lived on earth, but all he was, 
all he did, all he thought, and wished, 
and felt, will be known to God, and by 
hmi told to the world. Men may sin 
in secret, in the darkness of night, — 
they may conceal their sins, deny them 
— but God will make every sin stand 
out in open light, as plainly as if painted 
on canvass. What knowledge must he 
have ! Verily, " hell is naked before 
him, and destruction hath no covering." 
When we think or speak of a man 
of knowledge^ we think of a being who 
has lived but a few days, — who has 
read a little in books, — has studied a 
little, thought a little, and who knows a 
very little more than to feed his own 
body ! This we call knowledge ! Alas ! 
it is only the small light of a little taper 



Lect. VI.] GOD KNOWS EVERY THING. 255 



Real loiowledge. 



But He^ who before any single thing 
was made, saw and knew the pattern 
and likeness of every thing, — every star, 
and sun, and man, and bird, and beast, 
and fish, and insect, — who knows every 
little string in the body, and every 
power of the mind, — w^ho know^s what 
will be the condition, the feelings, the 
wishes, the thoughts, of every man who 
will ever live, — who holds in the grasp 
of his mighty hand all things, all chan- 
ges, great and small, dark and light, 
good and bad, — who can see all, know 
all, w^eigh all, judge all, and make all 
turn to his glory, — he has knowledge ! 
This is not the light of the taper : it is 
the sun. 

Some men think that if they can only 
get away out of the sight of men, they 



256 CHARACTER OF GOD. [LectVI. 

How men think. 

may sin as much as they please. In 
this way, some go to work and make 
counterfeit money ; some deceive in 
their bargains ; — some have feehngs 
and wicked wishes in their hearts, and 
think it is no matter, if no man knows 
it. But such men must not think that 
they can do any thing, or go any 
where, or wish any thing, and have it 
concealed from God. No. He know^s 
every thing, and you might as well try 
to live without breathing, as to try to 
do, or think, or feel wrong, and not 
have God know it. He can neither be 
taught nor deceived. 

I might go on with more proof that 
God knows every thing, but I trust I 
have made it plain to you ; and now I 
am wishing: that these children should 



Lect. VI.] GOD KNOWS EVERY THING. 357 

Instruction 1. — God not disappointed. 

learn some things which we may learn 
from this subject. And you learn, 

1. That God can never be disap- 
pointed. 

Oh ! how many created beings have 
been disappointed ! Those bright an- 
gels who once stood near the throne of 
God in heaven, thought they might sin, 
and yet still do well. How little did 
they think their sins would cast them 
into hell for ever ! And yet they have 
been disappointed. They may be very 
many, and very cunning, and very pow- 
erful, and very resolute, but God knows 
all their plans, and can turn them all 
against themselves ; and by a hand too 
mighty for them to resist, he can crush 
all their hopes ! 

Some men once thought they would 
22* R 



258 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. VI. 

The tower Great plans Wicked plans. 

build a tower, and make to themselves 
a great name ; but the Lord comes 
down and disappoints them, and their 
Babel cannot go up high towards hea- 
ven, as they hoped it would. 

Men sometimes lay great plans, and 
have much gold, and many great minds, 
and great armies to help them carry 
out their plans ; and the Lord blows 
upon them, just as you would blow out 
a lamp, and they are all disappointed ! 
But it is not so with God, 

Judas may go mad, and go out into 
the lonely field and hang himself; Pi- 
late and Herod may become friends in 
order to kill the Savior ; and it is not 
new to God. He knew it all before 
these men were born. Infidels some- 
times take their pen and write a book, 



Lect. VI.] GOD KNOWS EVERY THING. 259 

Who disappointed .... Instruction 2. — God do no injustice. 

sometimes a large book, and sometimes 
a small one, by which they try to make 
men believe that the Bible did not come 
from God ; — and the smallest child here 
might as well try to blow down the 
great mountain with his breath. No, 
no ! Others may be disappointed, may 
sit down and wTing their hands in 
anguish, may have their hearts ache 
over their sorrows ; but the plans, the 
designs of God, will all come out just 
as he wishes, and he will never be dis- 
appointed in regard to any thing. 

2. You learn that God will never do 
anybody any injustice. 

We are in danger of doing injustice 
to our fellow-men. We do not know 
just what is their situation, and thus 
we say that such a man ought to do so 



260 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. VI. 

How we do men injustice Innocent man hanged. 

and so, or he ought to alter his course. 
But perhaps if we were in their situa- 
tion, we should do just as they do. 

A dishonest man is apt to think that 
all men are dishonest. Thus he does 
them injustice. A sour, ill-natured man, 
thinks that all feel just as he does. 
The man who envies others, thinks that 
all do so too. These all do men injus- 
tice. Sometimes, too, we blame men 
unjustly, when they do as well as they 
can, though we may not, and do not, 
know it ; and it is almost impossible that 
we should think and feel towards any 
man as we should, if we knew just 
what was in his heart. 

A few years ago a man was tried for 
murder in England, and was hung for 
it, when it afterwards was found out 



Lect. VI.] GOD KNOWS EVERY THING. 261 



We do God injustice. 



that no murder had ever been commit- 
ted in that town. And a man in Ver- 
mont came very near being put to 
death for murdering a man, when the 
man was ahve, and was found aUve, and 
brought in and shown to the court. 
But this can never be in God's deahngs 
with men. 

We may do him injustice, — we may 
say he is not a wise God, — or that he 
is not so good as we should hke, — or 
we may doubt his truth, — we may break 
his laws, — blaspheme his name, — des- 
pise his holiness, — scorn his word, — 
we may do any or all of this injustice 
towards him, for we are ignorant, and 
sinful beings : — but he can never do in- 
justice. He sees the angel when he 
covers his face with his wings in hea- 



262 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. VI. 

Instruction 3. — The good rewarded . . . Joseph . . Job. 

ven ; he knows his heart, and the heart 
of every angel, of every man, and of 
every child that ever lived, or ever 
will live ; and he cannot, — will not, do 
injustice to any one, in this life, or in 
the next. 

3. You learn that God will reward all 
who do well^ because he knows all that 
they do. 

Joseph had rather go to prison than 
to sin ; and he did go, and was shut up 
for years, rather than sin ; — but it was 
because he felt that God knew all about 
him, and would reward him. 

Job was covered with disease, — his 
property all swept away, — and his chil- 
dren all buried under the house which 
the wind had blown down upon them ; 
his wife tried to make him sin, and his 



Lect VI.] GOD KNOWS EVERY THING. 263 

Martyrs The father. 

best friends gave him bitter words — 
and yet he sinned not, because he knew 
that God knew all about it, and would 
reward him. 

You have heard of martyrs, have 
you not ? Some of them were sawn in 
two by a great saw ; some were driven 
away into the cold mountains, — some 
were shot, some stabbed, and some 
torn in pieces by wild beasts, which had 
been shut up and almost starved, on 
purpose to make them fierce and cruel. 
If you had been in Rome at one time, 
you might have seen many thousands 
covered wdth pitch and tar, and burned 
to death, and sometimes they were 
burned in the night, to be seen better. 

There, the father was shut in prison, 
away from his family, to-morrow to be 



264 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. VL 

Mother Daughter Bright boy. 

burned, because he will not worship an 
idol, and deny the Savior. 

There, the mother knelt on the cold 
stones in the dungeon, and prayed for 
her babes, whom she was to leave alone, 
for to-morrow she must die by being 
burned at the stake. 

There, the daughter was led out, and 
the lions tore her in pieces, because she 
would not sin against God ; and there 
the bright. Christian boy, no older than 
many of you, was led between the sol- 
diers, as he went to be crushed and torn 
by the wild beasts ; — and yet his little 
step was light and firm, and his sweet 
eye was bright, and his young face was 
cheerful — because he beheved that God 
knew every thing, and would reward 
him. Ah ! and so he will. He knows 



LectVI.] GOD KNOWS EVERY THING. 265 

Instruction 4. — We ought to be afraid to sin. 

all our sorrows and trials, our tears and 
sighs over our sins, and he will remem- 
ber his promises, and will hereafter, in 
his kingdom, reward us abundantly. 

4. If God knows every things then we 
see what a great day^ the Judgment-day 
will he. 

There will be a most wonderful sight 
at the great day of judgment. We 
know but little of what men do and 
say and feel that is wrong, but God 
knows all. 

Much of the wickedness of men has 

been covered up by the ages that have 

gone past; character is concealed by 

partial friends; it is covered up by 

shame ; it is bought into good repute 

by gold; it is winked at by us as an 

excuse for our sins: — but in the day 
23 



266 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Led. VI. 

Day of judgment — what? Things brought out. 

when God comes to judge the world, 
and to bring out every character as it 
stands in his sight, it will not be so. 
What has been buried by years, or con- 
cealed by the grave, will come out, and 
all stand out as fresh as if it were done 
but yesterday. God knows it all, and 
will bring it all out, and show it all, and 
then punish it all. That which friends 
covered, will be covered no longer. 
That which shame put away in the 
corner, will be put away no longer. 
Wrongs which we have not dreamed 
of, will come to light. Oh! what a 
scene will that day be ! Ah ! and those 
sins which you commit in your child- 
hood, and those habits which you now 
begin to fix upon yourselves like chains, 
and which will shortly become your 



Lect. VI.] GOD KNOWS EVERY THING. 267 

God looks on the heart, and deep, 

masters, — these will all be brous^ht into 
judgment by the knowledge of God. 

That young heart that now knows 
how to sin, to deceive, to have burning 
passions within it, — must be laid open. 

Ah ! if God would only look at your 
outside, — if he would recall only such 
sins as you remember, — if he would 
only deal with you for those sins which 
the eye of man only has seen ! — but 
alas ! this is not it ! God knows every 
thing ; and he will bring you into judg- 
ment for all that you have been, now 
are, or ever will be, — your words, 
thoughts, and the feelings of your heart ! 
Say, are you not afraid to sin? 

When these dear children have slept 
the sleep of ages, — when they have 
been called up from the grave by the 



268 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. VI. 

Conclusion. 

angel of the resurrection, to be judged 
for all that they are, or do, or ever will 
do, — for sins committed in secret, and 
sins open and known, what will they do ? 
The rocks cannot cover you, the hills 
cannot fall on you, — for the rocks and the 
hills are melted, the sea is dried up and 
is no more, every island has fled away, 
and there is nothing left but the blessed 
Redeemer; but you must now make 
him your friend, — you must now obey 
him, serve him, love him, or he will not 
then save you. Amen. 



LECTURE VIl. 



GOD'S POWER. 



Ah, Lord God ! behold thou hast made the heavens 
and the earth, by thy great power and stretched-out 
arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee^ — Jere- 
miah, xxxii. 17. 



Village of Anathoth — Jeremiah in prison — Curious 
time to buy a farm — Power of God — How first seen — 
A grain of wheat — The great ball — Great basin — 
Great channel dug — The mountains — Small creatures 
—The balloon — Going to the sun in a balloon — Going 
to the stars — Candle in a star — Number of stars — 
How God makes things — Mind's great chain — Changes 
of this world — Second way of seeing God's power — 
Kings — Mind is power — Three things showing the 
power of God — The first thing — The happy family — 
Sorrows come — ^The widow's God — Second thing show- 
ing God's power — Wonderful examples — God governs 
the minds of men — Greatness of Babylon — Third 
thing showing Gods power — Satan and Christ — 

23 * (269) 



270 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. VII. 

Village of Anathoth. 

Christ in the manger — Christ on the cross — Christ in 
the tomb — God's strength — The flood — Nebuchad- 
nezzar — What is an inference ] — First inference — 
We can give the Bible to the world — Difficulties in 
the way — Second inferences-faith in God — Wicked 
are under God — Third inference — God terrible to the 
wicked — How he can punish — Last inference — God''s 
power should make the good happy — What protection ! 
— Conclusion. 



There was a little village a few miles 
from Jerusalem, and its name was 
Anathoth. Jeremiah was born there, 
and there his relations lived. 

By the laws of Moses, when a man 
wished to sell his farm, he must first 
oflfer it to his nearest relations, to see if 
they wished to buy it. 

At the time the words of my text 
were written, the great army of the 
Chaldeans was in Anathoth. Jeremiah 
had come to Jerusalem, to tell the king 



LectVIL] GOD'S POWER. 271 

» 

Jererniah in prison Curious time to buy a farm. 

and all the people, that for their sins, 
God was going to give them into the 
hands of the Chaldeans for seventy 
long years. They were so much dis- 
pleased with Jeremiah, that they shut 
him up in a prison and put his feet in 
the stocks. In a short time he knew 
that Jerusalem would be taken, and all 
burned up, and all the people carried 
away captives to Babylon. While 
these things were so, a relation came to 
Jeremiah, to ask him to buy his small 
farm that was in Anathoth ! What a 
time to buy an estate ! 

But God tells Jeremiah to make the 
purchase, and have it recorded. The 
Prophet does so. If his heart fails him, 
he comforts himself with the words of 
my text : " Ah, Lord God, behold thou 



272 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. VII. 

Power of God . . . How seen first ... A grain of wheat. 

hast made the heaven and the earth, by 
thy great power and stretched-out arm, 
and there is nothing too hard for thee," 

Children, I am now going to speak to 
you about the power of God, and I 
want you to sit very still, and to be 
careful to hear all I have to say. 
Though I can, at this time, mention 
only a few things which show the power 
of God, yet the things which do show 
it, are all around us every where. 

1. Look at the power of God in what 
he has made. 

A little child can take a grain of 
wheat and drop it into the earth, — by 
the aid of the earth, the air, the sun, the 
rain, and the dew, it grows and fills the 
ear of wheat. By a little grinding at 
the mill, the coarse and fine parts are 



Lect. VII.] GOD'S POWER. 273 

The great ball. 

separated, and you have flour. By a 
little adding of water, and by baking, 
you have bread. You eat the bread, 
and it becomes flesh, and blood, and 
bone. 

But suppose you had to do all this ! 
Could you make the grain of wheat ? 
Could you make it grow when made ? 
Could you make it turn into blood, and 
bone, and flesh ? What power of God 
is seen in every grain of wheat ? 

Suppose there never had been a grain 
of sand, nor a single atom of dust, 
covXA you make the smallest dust that 
ever floated in the sun-beam ? Could 
all the men in the world do it ? No. 
But God could make this world, a great 
ball, so large, that if a hole were dug 
through it, and an apple were dropped 



274 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect.VII. 

Great basin Great channels dug. 

into the hole, it must fall eight thousand 
miles before it gets through ! 

You can bring two drops of water 
together, and you might, by great dig- 
ging and much hard work, turn the 
channel of the small brook, and make 
the brook run in a different place ; but 
could you make a basin of waters ten 
thousand miles across its top, and so 
deep that no man can measure it, even 
with the longest rope ? Could you 
make such basins again and again, till 
all the oceans on the earth were made ? 
Could you dig great channels, some of 
them many miles wide, and fill them all 
with waters, and thus make all those 
great rivers which pour their waters on 
towards the great ocean, and which 
will thus run, as long as the world 



Lect nh] GOD'S POWER. 275 



The mountains Small creatures. 

lasts ? No, you cannot ; no man can ; 
but God can do all this ! 

If somebody would bring you the 
things, perhaps you might build a pile 
as large as a load of hay ; but how^ 
would you go to work to rear up a 
mountain, and many mountains, some 
of which are five miles high, and hun- 
dreds of miles long ? Their tops cov- 
ered with snow that never melts, and 
great fires under them which makes 
them shake like a sick man ? Oh ! 
what power must God have, to do all 
this! 

Men can shoot a bird on the wing ; 
they can subdue the horse, and the 
elephant ; they can spear the fish, and 
crush the insect with the foot. But 
who has power to make the smallest 



276 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect.VII.. 

The balloon. 

insect that creeps or flies, or the most 
tiny fish that swims ? God can do all 
this. The little creeper, too small for 
your eye to see, as he sits on the leaf, 
and is rocked by the winds, cries to 
God, and is heard by God as plainly as 
the angel in heaven before his throne ! 
He gives life, and breath, and food, to 
all that walk or creep, or fly or swim, 
though all the men in the world could 
not keep one of them alive for a single 
day. 

You have heard of a balloon. It is 
a great bag made of silk, and filled 
with light air. It can rise up in the air 
towards the clouds with a man in it. I 
have seen one with a man in it, which 
was at least a mile high. 

Now, suppose you could ride in a 



Xect. VII.] GOD'S POWER. 277 

Going to the sun in a balloon Going to the stars. 

balloon day and night, and go as fast as 

a ball shot from a cannon, how long do 

you think it would take you to reach 

the sun ? Twenty -five years ! How 

large would you find it? Why, it 

would take a million and a half of such 

worlds as this, to make one world as 

large as the sun ! And yet God moves 

or stops the sun just as he pleases ! 

Suppose now, you could leave the sun in 

your balloon, and sail oJEF to the nearest 

star, how long would it take to get there, 

going as fast as a cannon-ball ? It would 

take you six hundred thousand years! 

Suppose when you had got to the 

nearest star, you should light a candle 

w^hich we could see here in this world ; 

how long would it be after the candle 

was hghted, before it could be seen in 
24 



278 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. VII. 
Candle in the stars Number of stars, 

this world? Three years and seventy^ 
nine days ! 

And how many such stars are there ? 
Ah! we do not know; we only know 
that there are more than one hundred 
millions; and probably these are only 
a small part of what God has made \ 
Yet "He telleth the number of the 
stars, and he calleth them by name." 
No wonder he says in the Bible, " lift 
up your eyes on high, and behold !'* 

But how does God make and uphold 
all these great worlds ? " He speaks 
and it is done" — a world is created. 
He calls for light, and it breaks out of 
what was eternal darkness, and hangs 
around the world as a mother hangs 
over her babe. He speaks again, and 
the waters roll off, and the dry land 



Lect. VII.] GOD'S POWER. 279 

How God makes things Minds Great chain. 

rises up. He reaches forth his hand, 
and hangs the sun, the moon, and the 
stars up in their places. "He made 
the stars also'^ — not as we make things : 
no : " he spake and it was done ; he 
commanded and it stood fast." 

Yet there is something more bright 
and glorious, than the brightest sun and 
the purest star : it is the minds which 
God has made ; minds^ which fill earth 
with cities, and the seas with ships, and 
which will live, and think, and feel, and 
act, for ever and ever ! 

Suppose you could see a chain held 
in the hand of God, which holds every 
weed and flower, every insect and crea- 
ture, that lives, every mind that thinks, 
whether in this, or in any other world, 
would you not feel that the hand of 



280 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. VII. 



Changes of this world . . Second way of seeing God's power. 

God was strong, to hold all up, every 
moment, from the morning of creation, 
to the end of all things ? " He fainteth 
not, neither is he weary." " There is 
nothing too hard for the Lord." Men 
are born and die; trees grow up and 
fall away ; nations grow and perish ; 
but all the works of God continue as 
they were from the beginning, because 
from age to age God remains the same, 
almighty in power, unaltered, undimin- 
ished, untired, unceasing! What a 
being God is ! 

2. Look at the power of God as he 
governs the world. 

God made the body, and the spirit in 
the body, and knows just how to reach 
and guide the spirit. Herod and Pilate 
may lay their plans just as will please 



LectVII.] GOD'S POWER. 281 



Kings Raising the hand. 

themselves ; and the wicked in hell may- 
curse and swear day and night for ever, 
if they wish ; but God knows how to 
make all this wickedness turn, so as to 
bring honor to his own name. 

You know, children, that your father 
sometimes tells you to do things which 
you do not wish to do ; yet you do 
them, and obey his will. But God can 
make people obey his will, and wish to 
do it at the same time. Even the 
greatest kings that lift up themselves 
against him, are only the saw lifting up 
itself against him that shaketh with it, 
and the axe that riseth up against him 
that heweth with it. 

When you lift your hand to your 
head, it is your will that moves it. 

When you raise your foot, it is because 

24* 



282 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lcct. VII. 

Mind is power. Three things to be remembered. The first thing, 

your will moves it: and when you 
move any part of your body, is it not 
your will that does it? Just so God 
moves every part of creation. Mind is 
POWER. The strongest man that ever 
Hved could not raise a finger, if his 
mind be gone. He is then dead. The 
moon or the great sun could not move 
an inch, unless God moves them. 

Now see, children, if when you get 
home you remember and tell your 
friends three things which show God's 
power in governing his creatures. 

1. He can make great joy to come 
from great sorrows. 

Suppose you know a family who live 
in a great, beautiful house, surrounded 
by trees, with a large garden, and every 
thing pleasant. They have a fine fami- 



Lect. VII.] GOD'S POWER. 283 

The happy family Sorrows come. 

ly of children. The father and mother 
are both pious people, and are doing 
all they can to train up their children 
for the service of God. They are the 
happiest family you know of. 

But times change. By great losses 
of money, they become poor. They 
must leave their beautiful house, and 
costly furniture, and go and live in a 
small, poor house. Then the father is 
taken sick, and after months of great 
pain and suffering, he dies, and is buried 
in the grave, and is gone for ever. The 
mother is now left poor, with nothing 
but her orphan children and her God. 
To whom can she now look ? Where 
wdll she now find a covering from the 
storm ? 

She goes to God, — she clings to his 



284 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. VII. 



The widow's God .... Second thing showing God's power, 

word : she trusts to him who is the 
widow's God, and a father to the father- 
less. She now finds that she has been 
too long drinking of the waters of earth, 
and forgetting the waters of life. She 
leans upon God, is guided by him, and 
has new peace and joy poured into her 
bosom. In her little cottage with her 
children, she calls upon God. They 
sing his praises, and God gives to this 
family such peace as they knew not be- 
fore. He can bring joy out of sorrow, 
and make the thorn which goes deep 
into the flesh, cause great happiness. 
The beautiful story of Joseph in Gene- 
sis, will show you what I mean. Will 
you read it? 

2. The power of God can keep his 
people when in dangers. 



Lect VII.] GOD'S POWER. 285 

Wonderful examples. 

A wicked king with a great army of 
soldiers once followed God's people, 
and he opened the Red Sea, and made 
the waters stand up on each side like a 
wall. 

Twice he made the waters gush out 
of the hard rock in the wilderness, that 
his people might have drink. 

They would have starved during the 
forty years in the wilderness, had not 
God, every morning, created manna 
enough for three millions of people to 
eat. 

When the people of God got into the 
land of Canaan, they had heathen na- 
tions all around them, who wanted to 
make war upon them and destroy them ; 
and the Jews had the command of 
God that all the men should go up to 



286 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Led. VII. 

God governs the minds of men .... Greatness of Babylon. 

Jerusalem three times every year to 
worship him. Now why did not these 
heathen come down upon them in 
armies and destroy them, while the men 
were all gone away to Jerusalem? 
Because God so governed their mlndsj 
that they had no wish to do it. He can 
chain up the wishes of men. You 
know how he did it when the prison 
doors were thrown open, and the prison- 
ers did not wish to escape. (Acts 16.) 
Once the people of God were slaves 
in Babylon. The greatest king on 
earth was their master. The walls of 
Babylon were Jifty feet thick, and one 
hundred and ffty feet high, and the 
gates were of solid brass. How could 
they get out? God can open a way. 
He creates Cyrus, the Persian, who 



Lect. VII.] GOD'S POWER. 287 

Third thing showing God's power .... Satan and Christ. 

comes with a great army, opens the 
gates, reads in the Bible what the Pro- 
phets said about him more than one 
hundred years before this, and he wor- 
ships God, and at once sends the cap- 
tive people back to Jerusalem. 

Wicked men have many times tried 
to destroy the people of God. Even 
kings and rulers have tried to do it ; but 
what did they do ? " He that sitteth in 
the heavens shall laugh, — the Lord shall 
hold them in derision," 

3. The power of God is seen in turn- 
ing the plans of Satan, the greatest sin- 
ner, against himself 

Hundreds of years before Jesus 
Christ came to this world, it was told 
that he would come. He was to be the 
heir of the world. And how did the 



288 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. YIl. 

Christ in the manger. 

Wicked One rejoice, when he saw him, 
a poor man, despised by men, with 
no friends, but a few poor fishermen ! 
Is this "the desire of the nations?" 
Ah ! how did he rejoice ! And how 
was he amazed, when he saw that these 
poor fishermen could preach with a 
power which nobody could answer ! 
And with a boldness which prisons and 
death could not check ! 

How did Satan rejoice when he saw 
the Son of God, the heir of the world, 
cradled in a manger, and king Herod 
ordering all the babes in Bethlehem to 
be murdered ! And how was he baffled, 
when he saw the wise men of the East 
come to worship him, and a new star 
created to do him honor ! 

Christ was taken by wicked men and 



Lect. VII.] GOD'S POWER. Ogg 

Christ on the cross Christ in the tomb. 

nailed to the cross, and shut up in the 
tomb, all sealed up : and doubtless there 
was joy in the dark world of sin ; but 
oh ! the power of the cross ! It spoiled 
these principalities and powers; it is 
rivers of waters to the perishing soul 
on the sands of India ; it is the " Won- 
derful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Ever- 
lasting Father, Prince of peace," to the 
Indian in the wilderness, — it is the 
morning star to the wanderer in dark- 
ness and in sin, — it is the power of God 
to all who believe ! 

The soldiers were there, and the seal 
was on the tomb, and the great stone 
was on the mouth ; but Christ arose 
from the dead. Satan now persuaded 
the Jews to reject him, and not to be- 
lieve him, — and he thought he had done 
25 T 



290 CHARACTER OF GOD. [I.ect. VII. 

God's strength. 

a great and a wicked work. They 
tried to kill the Christians, and have 
Christ forgotten ! But oh ! what power 
has God ! The Christians were driven 
away from their homes, and they went 
everywhere preaching the word! and 
thus thousands and millions of poor 
Gentiles have been led to look unto 
" the Lamb of God which taketh away 
the sins of the world." 

The weakness of God is stronger 
than the strength of men. Suppose 
you see a man frown. What does that 
frown do? It only shows that he is 
displeased. But when God frowns, the 
heavens tremble, "yea, they perish at 
the rebuke of his countenance." 

Suppose a man lift his finger, — what 
can he do wath a finger? But wnth the 



Lect. VII.] GOD'S POWER. 291 

The flood Nebuchadnezzar. 

finger of God devils are controlled, and 
by his fingers the heavens were made. 

What power must he have, to roll 
the flood over every valley, and hill, 
and mountain ! What power, to rain 
fire and brimstone upon the five cities, 
and thus make their smoke go up, as 
the smoke of a great furnace ! 

Ah ! God can hurl the army of Egypt 
into the Red Sea, and drown them all. 
He can turn the heart of Nebuchad- 
nezzar into the heart of a beast, and 
make the proudest man to become a 
beast ! 

There is nothing too hard for the 
Lord. His hand will open every grave, 
and bring up every sleeper. His breath 
shall kindle a fire which shall burn up 
this world, and these heavens; and 



292 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. VII. 



What is an inference First inference. 

then, from their ashes will he build up 
new heavens, and a new earth, which 
shall stand for ever ! 

Children, do you know what an infer- 
ence is ? I will tell you. If you can 
prove to me that the little boy there, 
who is so attentive, is a kind and obe- 
dient child, then, I infer^ that his parents 
love him very much. This is an infer- 
ence. 

So now, having proved that God has 
almighty power, I infer some things. 

1 . I infer that he can aid us to carry 
the Bible to all people. 

Give the Bible to all people ! Unbe- 
lief cries, " if the Lord would make 
windows in heaven, then might this 
thing be !" " How can he give us his 
flesh to eat?" 



Lect. VII.] GOD'S POWER. 293 

We can give the Bible to the world . . Difficulties in the way. 

The power of God answers, " fear 
not, little flock, it is your Father's good 
pleasure to give you the kingdom." 
Aided by this power, the stripling Jo- 
seph becomes the savior of Egypt : 
Moses, the son of a poor slave, becomes 
the leader of Israel ; David, the shep- 
herd's boy, becomes the king of Israel, 
and " the sweet singer" of the church 
of God. The mustard-seed becomes a 
great tree. 

The religion of the heathen is as old 
as the flood ; the religion of the Ma- 
hometans is fierce, cruel and bloody; 
the rehgion of the Jews is cold, selfish, 
blind and stubborn; but the power of 
God will raise up many souls, to five, 
and preach, and pray, and weep, and by 

them, the world will be brought back to 

25* 



294 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. VII. 

The second inference— faith in God . . Wicked men under God. 

God. We may seem small, and feeble, 
and poor ; but Christ sits in the hea- 
vens, and has all power in heaven and 
on earth, and he will help his people to 
carry the Gospel to every creature 
under heaven. 

I infer, 

2. That the power of God gives us 
faith ill his government. 

There are good men who look to 
God to guide them through life ; to go 
with them, and lead them safely through 
the regions of death ; — to raise them 
up from the grave, and make them 
blessed for ever : and God will do it 
all, for nothing is too hard for him. 

There are wicked men who do not 
love God ; who hate his Bible ; they do 
not pray to God ; they try to destroy 



Lect. VII \ GOD'S POWER. 295 

Third inference — God terrible to wicked men, 

his Sabbath, and make the world hate 
his church. But God can say even to 
the roaring waves, " hitherto shalt thou 
come, and no further." He can melt 
away a nation, and crush it by war, by 
hunger, or even by a locust or a worm. 
Who can thunder like him ? He fears 
no man ; — he is almighty in power, and 
can do as he pleases. Such wicked 
men as Pharaoh, Herod, and Pilate, he 
laughs into silence for ever. 

I infer, 

3. That the povjer of God is terrible 
to wicked people. 

What an eye God has! No dark- 
ness can hide from it : no cave shut it 
out ! Go to heaven, and he is there ! 
Go to hell, and he is there ! Fly away 
on the wings of morning light, and he 



296 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. VII. 

How he can punish. 

gets there before you ! Nay, he him- 
self must help you to fly. "I will 
render vengeance to mine enemies, and 
reward them that hate me !" Ah ! what 
can he not do to the wicked ! He can 
throw a little speck of dust in your eye, 
and you are in great pain. His finger 
can touch a single cord in the brain, 
and you rave with madness. He can 
fill the soul full of terrors, and fears, 
and horror. What then will bad men 
do, when God makes a business of 
punishing ? If Judas was so wretched 
here, that he chose to murder himself, 
how will he feel when God comes to 
teach him that it had been ' better for 
him had he never been born?' When 
the great God comes to deal with wick- 
ed men, how will they feel ? Through 



Lect. VII.] GOD'S POWER. 297 

Last inference — God's power should make the good happy. 

what door will they run ? What arm 
can deliver them ? Oh ! how will he 
tread them down in his fury, and put 
them to shame and everlasting con- 
tempt ! 

Dear children, every time we sin, we 
say unto God, that we dare his power ; 
but, oh ! when he judges us, we shall be 
like briars and thorns before the great 
fire ! " Do we provoke the Lord to 
anger? Are we stronger than he?" 

I infer, 

4. That the power of God should 
make his people feel happy. 

Suppose one of these children be a 
holy child, and a friend of Christ, — still, 
what dano;ers are around him. He is 
but a poor, little child, only a few years 
old, like a worm crushed before the 



298 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. VIL 



What protection. 



moth; the worm is his sister and 
mother, and the grave will soon be his 
home. He has a wicked heart too, 
within him. Can he ever get through 
this world of sin, through the ^rave, 
and reach heaven ? Yes. I hear a 
voice saying, " all things are yours." 
"I am persuaded that neither death, 
nor hfe, nor angels, nor principahties, 
nor powers, nor things present, nor 
things to come, nor height, nor depth, 
nor any other creature, shall be able to 
separate us from the love of God in 
Christ Jesus our Lord." 

Children, that house in which your 
soul now lives, (I mean your body,) 
must be taken down and put into the 
grave ; but don't be afraid ; the power 
of God will raise it up again, glorious, 



Lect. VII.] GOD'S POWER. 299 

Conclusion. 

beautiful, undying. The grave must be 
your sleeping-place ; but do not fear it ; 
the power of God shall open it and 
bring up your dust into hfe. This 
world must be burned up ; but do not 
fear; the power of God will rear up 
another, more beautiful and more per- 
fect than this. That bright sun must 
go out ; but do not fear ; God will 
make eternity take the place of time, 
and his own face shall be our sun for 
ever ! All will go and perish ; but you, 
little ones, you may take hold of the 
arm of God, and that arm will lift you 
over every snare, and lead you up to a 
world which is full of joy. Amen. 



LECTURE VIII 



TRUTH OF GOD. 

Honest men and knaves not alike — Truth very im- 
portant — What if God be not true 1 — A wish for these 
children — God a being of truth — First proof-— A de- 
ceitful father — How we are made — The argument — 
Continued — God a being of truth — Second proof—- 
May men ever deceived — Boy about to be killed — 
Why may he not deceive 1 — False balance — God a 
being of truth — Third proof— The Flood — Rainbow 
— Summer and winter — The Dead sea — Pass-over — 
Sin and misery connected — No dishonest man happy 
— Story of a dishonest man — Every sin makes us 
unhappy — God a being of truth — Fourth proof — 
Abraham — David — Captivity — God a being of truth — 
Fifth proof — Gehazi — Story of the three robbers — 
Lying despised — Lying brings certain ruin — How God 
views lying — God a being of truth — Last proof — 
When men deceive — How men are tempted — Change 
views — Men have prejudices — Men deceive because 
poor — God above all want — God sincere — One single 
26 (201) 



302 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. VIIL 



Honest men and knaves not alike . . Truth very important. 

inference — The angel — One great pillar — Men in 
trouble — Paul — Stephen the martyr! — The little 
child — The storm — The grave — Feeling sins — Short 
prayer. 



Some men are honest, and just, and 
sincere ; some are knaves, and cheats, 
and hars. Would you suppose that 
God, who loves justice and truth, would 
let these men be equal in this world ? 
He does not. 

The honest man speaks the truth at 
all times, and this is the wisest way, 
even for this life. The knave don't see 
this, and so he tells lies. This point of 
true wisdom is hid from the bad man, 
and so he is not equal to the good man. 
God has hid it from his eyes. 

If truth be so important between 
men, how vastly important is it between 



Led. VIII.] TRUTH OF GOD. 303 



What if God be not true ? 



God and men? For all our hopes, 
which reach beyond the grave, rest 
upon the truth of God^ — and this we 
call an everlasting foundation. 

Suppose it were so, that God is not 
a being of truth, then must every hope 
perish like a withered rose. This life 
may not be real, — only a dream, and 
all beyond the grave, looks dark and 
fearful, and full of despair. If he be 
not a being of perfect truth, then all 
we have read about him in the Bible is 
false, — all we have read about Christ is 
false, — and all we have read about sin, 
and repentance, and salvation, is false. 
There is no heaven for the good, no 
hell for the wicked, no judgment to try 
men. 

Who would try to live for heaven, 



304 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. VIII 



Children God a being of truth— Jlrst proof. 



if there be no such thing; and who 
would fear hell, if there be no such 
thing ? 

I am very anxious, therefore, that 
you, my dear children, in the very 
morning of life, should have full and 
clear proof, that though men may lie, 
and cheat, and deceive each other, yet 
there is One who will not — he is "a 
God of truth." 

1. The manner in which God has 
made men^ shows that he is a God of 
truth. 

Perhaps you may, some of you, have 
been told by your father, how wicked it 
is to lie, — perhaps you may have been 
punished for falsehood. Why did your 
father do so ? Because he wishes his 
child to hate falsehood and to love 



Lect. VIII.] TRUTH OF GOD. 305 

A deceitful father How we are made. 

truth. That father knows he will die 
in a few years, and he wishes his child 
to think of him, to love his memory, 
and his character, after he is dead. But 
suppose the father had himself been a 
deceitful man and a har, all his days. 
Has he taken the right way to make 
his child love his memory ? Would a 
liar teach a child to love truth, and then 
expect him to love his father ? Impos- 
sible. 

Now, you all know, that God has 
made us, and every thing else, and 
made us just as he pleased. Nobody 
directed him, nobody taught him. He 
could then, if he had chosen to do it, 
have made us very different from what 
we are. He could have made but one 

eye, or one hand, or he could have 
26* u 



306 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. VIII. 
The argument Argument continued. 

given us four feet instead of two. So 
he could have made us to think and feel 
differently, if he chose ; but how has he 
done ? 

Why, he has made us so, that if 
there be any thing in the world which 
we despise^ it is a liar. We call him 
mean, cowardly, and vile. It is impos- 
sible for any man, however much he 
may try to do it, — to love or respect a 
liar, or one who does not love the truth. 

Now, God wants us to love him, and 
respect and esteem him ; but he must 
have known, that, created as we are, 
we never could do it, if he be not a 
God of truth. If he were not a being 
of truth, it would be in vain to tell us 
to respect and love him, — we could 7iot 
do it! Do you see the proof? It is 



Lect. VIIL] TRUTH OF GOD. 307 

God a being of truth — second proof. 

this. If God had made us so that we 
could respect and love a liar, then we 
might have loved him, had he not been 
a God of truth ; but as he has made us 
so that we love only those who love 
truth, he himself, making us to love 
him, must be a God of truth. 

2. God has forbidden deceit of all 
kinds^ and this shows that he is a God 
of truth. 

Suppose a dishonest man, or a liar, 
reads the Bible, — can he read it with 
any comfort ? There, you are told not 
to lie one to another, for all liars have 
their part in the lake of fire and brim- 
stone. There, you are forbidden to 
deceive, though kings stand over you 
with drawn swords, — though prisons 
are your homes, and death your portion. 



308 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. VIII. 
May men ever deceive ? Boy about to be killed. 

What multitudes of men might have 
been saved from persecution, if they 
would only deceive a little ! Yet holy 
Daniel would not. 

The three men who were put into the 
furnace alive, would have been spared, 
had they bent the knee a single mo- 
ment. But they would not. 

Martyrs might have saved their lives, 
had they been willing to nod the head, 
or sprinkle a little powder on the altar 
of an idol ; but these men knew that 
God had forbidden all lying, and would 
blot their names out of the book of 
life if they deceived. 

Suppose that one of these little boys 
were now in the hands of the Mahom- 
edans, and a man was now standing 
over him with a sword, declaring that 



Lect. VIII.] TRUTH OF GOD. 309 

Why may he not deceive False balance. 

when five minutes were up, the httle 
boy should die, if he did not say that he 
would leave Christ and become a true 
Mahomedan! The boy could not do 
it — he could not really believe in Ma- 
homet. But why might he not pretend 
to do it, and thus save his life by de- 
ceiving ? Because you all know, that a 
life on earth, in the sight of God, is ot 
no consequence, compared with truth 
and sincerity : — because you know that 
God has forbidden all falsehood, and 
any one who regards truth so little that 
he w^ould tell a lie to save his life, is not 
fit for heaven. He w^ould sell his Sav- 
ior, or God the Father, to save his 
life, if that were necessary. 

If you tell a lie about any man, or 
any thing, you lead others to measure 



310 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. VIII. 
God a being of truth — third proof The flood. 

that man or that thing wrong ; — it is 
the same thing as a false measure, or a 
false balance, with which a merchant 
sells things. God abhors it and forbids 
it, and this proves that he is " a God of 
truth." 

3. The third proof that God is a 
God of truth, is, that he has told us of 
certain facts in the Bible^ and every thing 
around us shows that these are true. 

The Bible says that men are sinners 
now, though God at first made them 
holy ; and is it not so, — that every man 
you ever saw, or heard of, is a sinner ? 

The Bible says that the old world 
became so wicked that God cut them 
oflf by a flood, — and all nations have 
such a story among them; and even 
now, we find shells, and the bones of 



Led. VIII.] TRUTH OF GOD. 311 

Rainbow Summer and winter. 

fish, in the very top of the mountains, 
where they must have been left when 
the waters of the flood covered the 
mountains. 

In the Bible you read that the rain- 
bow shall be a sign that God will no 
more destroy the earth with a flood ; 
and no summer goes past without your 
seeing this beautiful bow hanging on 
the dark cloud, to remind us that God 
is a God of truth. 

He said that as long as the world 
shall endure, there shall be heat and 
cold, summer and winter ; and you 
have all seen it is so. The long, cold 
icicle in the winter, and the bright rose 
in the summer, tell you of this truth. 

He tells us that he once burned up 
five great and wicked cities : and there 



312 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect.VIIl. 
The Dead sea Pass-over. 

— in the land of Palestine, the dark, 
gloomy. Dead sea, still lies, and with a 
sullen roar, tells us that here is the mon- 
ument of the cities, and of God's truth. 

He said he would cut off all the first- 
born in the land of Egypt, in a single 
night; and the Jews in all countries 
still keep the Pass-over, because the 
angel passed over them, w^hen he went 
to destroy, — and this feast, still kept 
alive, tells you that God speaks the 
truth. 

God says that he took a shepherd's 
boy, and raised him up to be a king ; 
and do you not still read the sweet 
Psalms which David wrote ? 

Did \*ot God make every thing just 
as he pleased ? You say, " yes." Does 
he not direct and order every thing just 



LectVIIL] TRUTH OF GOD. 313 

Sin and misery connected .... No dishonest man happy. 

as he sees best ? Some of you answer 
me " yes." Why, then, should he not 
tell us about every thing just as it is ? 
He says that sin must always have mis- 
ery go with it. Misery is tied to sin 
just as much as a shadow is to any 
thing which makes it. And did you 
ever hear of a murderer whose brow 
was smooth and whose sleep was 
sweet ? Did you ever hear of a dis- 
honest man who was happy? 

A few years ago, and there was a 
man who lived in a beautiful house, with 
beautiful furniture, and every thing 
around him was beautiful. One day he 
was in the Post Office, and he saw a 
letter directed to the Sheriff, and he 
went home as quick as he could, and 

took his gun and went out in the lot 
27 



314 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. VIII. 

Story of a dishonest man . . . Every sin makes us unhappy. 

and shot himself dead ! Why did he 
do so? Because he had built that 
house, and bought all those fine things, 
with money which he had got by lying 
and deceiving. Was he a happy man, 
who, by looking on the outside of a let- 
ter, would hasten away and kill him- 
self? He knew that it had all come 
out, and he must go to prison — and so 
he shot himself, and went all bloody and 
guilty to God ! Could he be happy ? 

And is not every sinner, from the 
smallest child here, like some of those 
that can hardly speak, to the vilest 
spirit in hell, — is not every one unhappy 
in proportion to his sins ? This proves 
to you that God, who has fastened 
misery to sin, is '^ a God of truth.'' 

4. God shows us that he is a God 



Lect. VIII.] TRUTH OF GOD. 315 

God a being of truth—fourth proof , . Abraham . . David. 

of truths by always keeping his own 
promises. 

We do not judge of men by what 
they say about themselves; because a 
rogue often says he is honest, and a 
coward that he has courage ; but we 
judge by what we see men do. If a 
man has always kept his word, we call 
him a man of truth. 

God once said to Abraham that he 
would give him a son. It seemed im- 
possible, and the faith of Abraham was 
almost staggered by it, — but he kept 
his word. 

He promised to bring Israel out of 
Egypt, when they were sunk down as 
slaves. It seemed impossible ; but he 
raised up Moses, — fed him at the very 
table of the king who tried to destroy 



316 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. VIII. 

Captivity . . . God a being of truth— ^j^tA proof . . . Gehazi. 

Israel, — and then sent him away to be 
a shepherd forty years, that he might 
learn to be modest and humble, and 
then made him the leader of Israel. 

He promised that the long captivity 
of the Jews in Babylon should end. It 
seemed impossible ; — but Daniel was 
raised up to be their friend during all 
of it. 

5. God punishes all deceit and lyings 
and this shows that he is a God of truth. 

I do not mean by this that he will 
do it sometime or other, but I mean 
that he has done it — is doing it^ and 
will do it. 

Do you recollect how severely he 
punished Saul, the king of Israel, for 
lying about some cattle? (1 Sam. 15.) 

Gehazi, the servant of the prophet 



Lect. VIII.] TRUTH OF GOD. 317 

Story of the three robbers. 

Elisha, told one lie, and by a miracle 
he was turned into a leper the rest of 
his life. 

And by his providence, God has so 
directed things, that men must^ for the 
most part, speak the truth, or the whole 
of human society must be broken up. 
Even robbers must speak the truth, and 
be true to one another. 

Did you ever hear of the three rob- 
bers in Germany, who were not true to 
each other ? I will tell you the story. 
They were going to divide the things 
and the money which they had stolen, 
and then separate. Two of them sent 
the other into the city to buy some 
food, and agreed that when he got 
back, they would kill him, and divide 

all between themselves. The other 

27* 



318 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. VIII. 

Lying despised. 

one thought he would have all the 
goods himself, and so he put poison 
into the food of the other two ! On his 
return, they suddenly fell upon him and 
killed him, and then sat down to eat. 
They ate the poison, and in a few hours 
they too were dead ; and thus all three 
were found dead, because they were not 
true to each other. And thus it would 
be, through all society, if all undertook 
to lie and deceive. 

Nothing will bring upon any body, 
the scorn, the hatred, the contempt, and 
the curses of men, so quickly and 
surely, as to be a liar. The most 
wicked men in the world see and know 
this ; and therefore, though they are 
vile every other way, yet they try to 
speak the truth. 



LectVIIL] TRUTH OF GOD. 319 

Lying brings certain ruin How God "views lying. 

It makes no difference whether the 
Har be a man, or a whole nation of 
men. A nation that hes and perjures 
itself, is near its end and its ruin. It is 
the law of God, unalterable too, that 
the man, or the number of men, who 
will not uphold truth, shall perish and 
be put out of the way. But beyond 
this life, in the lake of jfire, will God 
most awfully punish qll liars. Not one 
shall stand in heaven, and if one kind 
of shame and contempt is more dread- 
ful than another, the most dreadful will 
be poured upon the head of the liar. 
Ah ! God pursues and crushes any and 
all who lie and deceive, all the way 
through this life, and then follows them 
far into the eternal world, and there 
for ever holds them up to shame and 



320 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. VIII. 



God a being of truth — last proof . . . When men deceive. 

scorn, because he is "a God of 
truth." 

One more proof that he is a God of 
truth, and that is, 

6. That he has no temptation to break 
his word^ or to deceive any one in any 
thing. 

Why do men break promises, and 
deceive and disappoint? 

Sometimes they do it because they 
do not know how much labor and ex- 
pense it will cost to keep their word ; 
they do not know their own weak- 
ness, nor how many difficulties they 
may meet with in the way. 

Not so with God. He knows all 
that can take place ; all the difficulties 
before he makes a promise. He has 
power to bring down the highest moun- 



Lect. VIII.] TRUTH OF GOD. 321 

How men tempted Change views. 

tain, to make the sea dry land, or to 
make stones into men or angels, if he 
needs — to keep his word. 

Men sometimes feel that it is conve- 
nient to deceive, — they can make a 
better bargain, or they can appear bet- 
ter. Not so with God. He has no 
bargains to make, no weakness or 
poverty to cover up, no points to carry 
which need falsehood to aid him. 

Men sometimes change in their views 
and feelings, and therefore break their 
promises. But with God there is no 
change, neither shadow of turning. He 
does not begin a plan to-day, and leave 
it to-morrow, because he is weary, or 
discouraged, or wants tools, or has 
some new plan come in before him. 

Men have prejudices and hatreds, and 



322 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. VIII. 
Men have prejudices Men deceive because poor. 

sometimes try to ensnare their enemy 
by deceit, God does not do so. He 
can punish an enemy without ensnaring 
him ; reach him without deceiving him ; 
and deal with him without lying. 

Men sometimes lie and deceive, be- 
cause they w^ant something which they 
cannot get. Sometimes they are hun- 
gry, and want food ; sometimes their 
families are suffering, and they want 
money to buy them food ; sometimes 
they have debts which they cannot 
pay; sometimes they want to save 
their reputation, or to gain more, or 
they want honors, or distinctions, or 
notice, which they cannot get, and 
therefore they put on, and appear to 
have and to be what they are not. 
How many who are poor, try to appear 



Lect. VIII.] TRUTH OF GOD. 323 

God above all want God sincere. 

rich ! How many who are ignorant, 
try to appear learned ! How many 
who are vile, try to appear Hke good, 
honest people ! How many try to ap- 
pear generous, who are not ! 

It is not so with the great and 
glorious God. He has no wishes which 
his goodness, and power, and wisdom, 
cannot meet ; he has no hunger to be 
appeased by food ; — no creatures crying 
for food, which he cannot feed ; he 
wants no honors, or titles, or distinc- 
tions, which holy beings will not yield 
to him ; no ; — he is just what he appears 
to be ; — will do just as he has prom- 
ised ; > and there is not, in all the great 
world, or in all worlds, any thing that 
can tempt him not to keep his word. 
Ah ! men may deceive and lie, and 



324 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. VIII. 
One single inference The angel. 

angels turn into devils ; but God is true, 
and his word is Amen. 

And now, children, I am going to 
stop, after having mentioned one single 
inference^ which I wish you would re- 
member, in addition to what I have 
already said. The inference is, 

That God is well fitted to be the ruler 
of angels and of men. 

Any thing created must be weak. 
Among the most glorious angels sin 
was once found. 

And now, suppose at this moment, 
an angel in heaven is just opening his 
wings, to fly down to this world on 
some errand of love. That angel can- 
not move without aid from God, — he 
cannot stand without having him to 
lean upon ; he cannot think without 



Lect. VIII.] TRUTH OF GOD. 325 

One great pillar Men in trouble. 

help; — he cannot come and do the 
errand without help from God. On 
whom shall he lean ? In whom shall 
he live ? By whose aid shall he fly ? 

Ah ! there is only One pillar in the 
universe that can stand up alone, and 
not be shaken : only one arm that can 
move itself; only one that can live in 
himself by his own power. That angel 
leaps up with joy, and spreads his 
wings, knowing that for ever and ever 
he will be as he now is. And how does 
he know it ? Because he knows that 
God has said ^' they shall not be con- 
founded that put their trust in me," and 
he knows that God is "a God of 
truth." 

Just so it is with good men on earth. 

They may see mountains shake and be 

28 



326 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. VIII. 
Paul Stephen the martyr The little child. 

carried away into the sea, and the 
nations troubled ; but their song is, 
" the Lord is with us, the God of Jacob 
is our refuge — therefore will we not 
fear." 

Glorious apostle Paul! stripes and 
imprisonments, and sufferings, and 
death, awaited him, but they do not 
move him. " Faithful is he who hath 
called us, who also will do it." 

Blessed martyr Stephen ! the stones 
bruise his body, but cannot crush his 
spirit, nor his hopes ! Why not ? "I 
see heaven opened, and Jesus standing 
at the right hand of God." 

Ah ! I am a poor little child, saj^s 
one, and when that dark cloud shall 
gather over me, and cover my way, and 
the storm shall come, shall I not fear ? 



Lect. VIII.] TRUTH OF GOD. 327 

The storm The grave. 

No, no ! I hear his voice saying, " fear 
not, thou worm, Jacob, — I am with 
thee." 

Yes, but waves roll over me, the deep 
is heaved, and the grave yawns, and 
death has his dart in his hand — shall 
I not now fear? No, no; I see one 
coming, walking on the stormy deep, 
and I hear his voice, " it is /, be not 
afraid, — peace, be still !" 

But I must go down into the grave, 
so dark and cheerless ! Silence is there ; 
and the worm is there ; — it is all cheer- 
less ; shall I not now be afraid ? No ! 
There is a sweet voice in the tomb, 
saying, " I am the resurrection and the 
life ; he that believeth on me, though 
he were dead, yet shall he live, and I 
will raise him up at the last day." 



328 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. VIII. 
Feeling sins Short prayer. 

Do I feel my own heart to be full of 
sin, and doubts, and darkness, and 
fears ; and do I feel like a living man 
with a dead body chained to him, cry- 
ing out, " who shall deliver me from 
the body of this sin and death ?" My 
heart breaks out in the song, " Thanks 
be unto God, through Jesus Christ who 
giveth me the victory." God changes 
not, — is not a man that he should lie, 
nor the son of man that he should 
repent ; he hath said, and his word 
shall stand. " Heaven and earth shall 
pass away, but his word shall not pass 
away !" 

Glorious Being ! make these children 
to love truths to be sincere in heart, — 
blessed and useful while they Hve here 
on earth, — happy and peaceful when 



Lect. VIIL] TRUTH OF GOD. 329 



Short prayer. 



they die, — and make them, through 
Christ the Redeemer, to walk with the 
angels in light, in thine own bright 
presence for ever ! Amen. 



28* 



LECTURE IX. 



GOD DOES AS HE PLEASES 



"Jfe doeth according to his will in the army of 
heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earths — 
Daniel iv. 35. 



Things great — Things bright — ancient — Niagara. — 
Wise men — Death — Mind governs — Men govern cat- 
tle — why 1 — God's right to do as he pleases — A painter 
— West's picture — Why his property — A new island — 
Whose property — No creature may complain — The 
insect — The farmer — The rock and the sun — Why a 
child should obey — Our dependence on God — Pharaoh 
— King of Babylon — God bought us — All are sinners 
— How we were bought — God uses the right to do as he 
pleases — Proved by his creating — by his keeping the 
world — sending his Son — by every child — Story of the 
little girl — The inference from the story — God''s mak- 
ing and altering his laws, shows that he does as he 
pleases — The law of the sun — of the Sabbath — of 
baptism — Extent of God's laws — Law of fire — of the 
lion — Destruction of Jerusalem — God punishes for 

(331) 



332 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. IX. 

Things great .... Bright things Ancient things. 

breaking his laws just as he pleases — gives and takes 
away as he pleases — One thing to be remembered — 
The rose-bush — The fair flower — Walking the streets 
— Why not envy — Story of the sick stranger — The 
discontented boys — Why God pleases to do as he does 
— What a Being is God — Conclusion. 



You have seen things great ^ — such 
as the ocean, the earth on which we 
live, the heavens, the sun, the moon, 
and the stars ; — but He who made them 
all, must be greater than all. 

You have seen things bright^ — such 
as the sun-rise and early dawn, — the 
summer's evening sky, — the light which 
fills creation; but we know that He 
who made all that is beautiful, must be 
more glorious than all. 

You have seen things ancient^ — such 
as the wilderness, the solitary rock, the 
high mountain, and the old, roaring 



Lect. IX.] GOD DOES AS HE PLEASES. 333 

Niagara Wise men. 

ocean; but we know that He who is 
from eternity, is more ancient than all 
these. 

You have seen things powerful^ — 
such as the cannon, — the hghtning 
which leaps from cloud to cloud, and 
the thunder which follows, — and you 
have heard of the great falls of Niaga- 
ra, where the waters, from several great 
Lakes, go thundering down more than 
a hundred feet ; but we know that He 
who calls these his servants, is more 
pow^erful than all. 

You have seen wise men, — men who 
could rear the lofty marble building, — 
make and navigate the great ship over 
the mighty waters, or with their long 
telescopes, could watch and measure 
the heavens ; but we know that He who 



334 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lcct. IX. 

Death .... Mind governs .... Men govern cattle — why? 

created all these, must be wiser than 
the wisest of men. 

We see men die, and see them car- 
ried to the grave ; — and we know that 
nations have all gone down to the 
grave ; but we know that He who sits 
in the heavens, and grows no older 
while nations perish, must be everlast- 
ing in all his ways. 

Now, what child does not know that 
his mind governs his body; that he 
walks, or moves his hand, or does any 
thing else, because his viind tells his 
body to do it ? Why is this ? Because 
the mind thinks^ and that ought to 
govern the body. Do not men govern 
cattle, tjie horse, the ox, the cow, and 
all the cattle? Why do they? Be- 
cause they have more mind than the 



Lect. IX.] GOD DOES AS HE PLEASES. 335 

God's right to do as he pleases. 

cattle ; and what has the most mind, if 
his feehngs are right and good, ought 
to govern. When the angels used to 
come down to earth so as to be seen by 
men, the prophets and apostles felt like 
falling down before them, and letting 
them direct them. The angel spoke to 
Philip, and told him to go to the Ethio- 
pian, (Acts viii.) and he went. He told 
Peter to dress himself and follow him, 
(Acts xii.) and Peter obeyed him at 
once. We always feel that a mind 
that is great, wise, good, and just, ought 
to govern. Now God is higher than 
all, wiser than all, stronger than all, 
more knowing than all, more benevo- 
lent than all, — has a nature every way 
more exalted, and therefore^ he has a 
RIGHT to do as he pleases. 



336 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. IX. 

A painter West's picture. 

You all know that a man has a right 
to do what he pleases with his own 
property. 

A painter once bought a large piece 
of coarse cloth ; he then bought some 
colors, and some hair pencils. He 
spent years over that piece of cloth, 
and when it was finished, it was a most 
beautiful picture of Christ healing the 
sick in the Temple at Jerusalem. It 
was greatly admired, and was worth 
many thousands of dollars. Suppose, 
now, another man had come in, and 
said that the picture was his^ and that 
he must have the price of it, and that 
he must be called the author of it ! 
Would not this be wrong? You say 
yes, — the painter owned the picture. 
It is his, because he made it. And so 



Lect. IX.] GOD DOES AS HE PLEASES. 337 

Why his property. 

it is. That painter was Benjamin 
West, and he gave the picture to the 
Hospital at Philadelphia, where it now 
hangs, and which brings a great deal 
of money to the Hospital from the visit- 
ers. He had a right to give it aw^ay, 
because it was his. He made it. But 
after all, he did not create the cloth, nor 
the colors, nor the brushes, nor the 
hand that held the brush, nor the mind 
that guided the hand ; and yet every 
body feels that it was his, and he might 
do w^ith it just as he pleased. And 
may not God, who made all things in 
this world, and in all w^orlds, do just 
as he pleases wdth his own ? 

May not a man do what he pleases 
with his lamb, his cow^, or his horse, 

because, though he did not create them, 
29 w 



338 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. IX. 

A new island . .Whose property.. No creature may complain. 

yet they are his ? And may not God, 
who did create every thing, do as he 
pleases ? 

A man may sail away on the ocean 
in a ship which he has bought, and dis- 
cover a large and beautiful island on 
which nobody lives. Is it not Ms ? 
May he not live there, and plant and 
reap, and own it all, if he pleases? 
What shall we, then, say of Him who 
made all things out of nothing, — who 
borrowed nothing, received nothing, 
who was taught by no one, — who gave 
to every creature and to every thing all 
that they have, — is He not the owner 
of all, and has he not a right to do just 
as lie pleases ? 

Nothing created has any right to 
complain. May the cold stone in the 



Lect. IX.] GOD DOES AS HE PLEASES. 339 

The insect The farmer. 

Street complain that it was not made 
into a diamond, and put in the crown 
of a king ? May the worm complain 
that he must creep and be crushed un- 
der foot, while the elephant walks away 
in his wild home<free and secure in his 
great strength ? May the little, spotted 
insect complain because God did not 
make him into the eagle, to soar above 
the clouds, and to rise up so high that 
the storm cannot ruffle a feather on his 
bosom? No, no. Nor may the farmer 
complain that he must toil on his mother 
earth, while thousands have nothing to 
do, but to ride out in their splendid car- 
riages. And we who are dying men, 
to stay here a few days and then die, 
may not complain that God did not 
make us into angels, and let us even 



340 CHARACTER OF GOD. l ^ect. IX. 



The rock and the sun. 



now be drinking of the river of life, 
which flows from the throne of God. 
He is the creator of all, and therefore 
he has a right to do just as he pleases. 

He took the materials which he had 
made, and a part he made into the 
bright sun; a part into the curious 
body of Adam, into which he breathed 
life ; and a part he made into the cold 
rock, and put it down in the dark 
ground, and buried it up. Has the rock 
any right to complain of its creator ? 

God gives to all his creatures all that 
they have. " His creatures all wait 
upon him : they gather that which he 
gives them : he turns away his face, — 
they are troubled : he taketh away their 
breath, they die and return to the dust.'' 

Suppose one of these children should 



Lect. IX.] GOD DOES AS HE PLEASES. 34 1 

Why a child should obey .... Our dependence on God. 

say that he would not obey his father ; 

that his father has no right to direct 

him ; and yet that boy must go to his 

father's table for food, to his house for 

shelter, to him for clothing, to him for 

money to buy books with, and with 

which to pay his teachers, — would not 

that boy be doing very wrong ? As 

long as he must depend on his father 

for every thing, may not the father 

direct him ? You all say, " yes." Very 

welL But the time will never come, in 

this hfe or the next, w^hen any man or 

any creature can say to God, " let go 

thy hand^ I can live without thee ;" and 

so long as we must thus depend upon 

God, he has a right to do as he pleases, 

and to command us just as he pleases. 

Wicked men do not hke to feel this 
29* 



342 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. IX. 

Pharaoh King of Babylon God bought us. 

dependence on God; but what can 
they do ? Pharoh may say, I will not 
obey the Lord, and may feel that his 
throne is so high, he is independent. 
But no, — it was God who raised him 
to it, and it was God who hurled him 
from it. The proud king of Babylon 
may say, " is not this great Babylon, 
which / have builded by the power of 
my might;'' and God will call him 
down and rebuke him, by saying, " God, 
in whose hands thy life, and thy breath 
is, and whose are all thy ways, thou 
hast not glorified." 

I have one more reason to mention, 
why God has a right to do with men 
just as he pleases^ and that is, he 
bought us. 

If a man buys any thing, and pays 



Lect. IX.] GOD DOES AS HE PLEASES. 343 

All are sinners. 

for it all that it is worth, raay he not do 
with it just as he pleases ? If he buys 
a horse, he may keep him for the sad- 
dle, or he may put him into the car- 
riage, or he may put him to the plough. 
Now, the Bible says, " we have been 
bought with a price, not wdth corruptible 
things, as with silver and gold, but by 
the precious blood of the Son of God." 
When we were " all gone astray — had 
all become filthy, and there was none 
righteous, no not one,'' — when there 
was no eye to pity and no arm to save, 
— when no man could redeem his 
brother, or give God a ransom for his 
own soul, — what then was our condi- 
tion? Did men mourn and lament 

their sins, and cry to God for help ? 
No, — they wandered and loved to wan- 



344 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. IX. 

How we were bought. 

der, just as a sheep that has run away 
to the mountains, loves to wander and 
has no desire to come back to her 
master, though the wolves are howhng 
around her, and she is almost starving 
for food. 

We w^ere thus, when Christ died for 
us, — the just for the unjust, — that he 
might redeem us, and bring us back to 
holiness and to God. He, the Son of 
God, came down to this world ; he 
went about doing good, — he was taken 
by wicked men, and they despised him, 
and mocked him, and spit upon him, 
and struck him, and whipped him with 
rods on his naked back, and then they 
nailed him to a tree, and let him hang 
there till he died ! And all this Christ 
suffered that he might buy us, and bring 



Lect, IX.] GOD DOES AS HE PLEASES. 345 

God uses the right to do as he pleases . . Proved by his creating. 

US near to God. And because God 
has thus bought us, "we are not our 
own," — we are the property of God, 
and he has a right to us and over us. 

I wish now to show you, children, 
not only that God has a right to do as 
he pleases^ but also that he uses that 
right. 

Can any one of these little girls tell 
me how long, or about how long it is, 
since God made this world and all that 
is in it? 

" Nearly six thousand years," says 
one fine, clear voice. Very well. But 
when God began to make things, before 
he had made any one thing, who was 
there to advise him, or to command 
him, or to ask him to make them ? 
You say again, " nobody." Very well. 



346 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. IX. 



By his keeping the world Sending his Son. 



Then God was free to make things or 
not to make them, to make more of 
them or less, and to do just as he 
pleased in regard to creating all things, 
— was he not ? 

You say that God has kept this 
world, and fed all his creatures here, 
nearly six thousand years ; — do any of 
these little boys know how much longer 
the world will last, and the sun shine 
upon it ? " No, Sir." Then it is for 
God to say how much longer the world 
will last, and he may destroy it just 
when he pleases. 

How long ago is it since Christ was 
on earth ? Can any one tell ? " Almost 
two thousand years." Very well. But 
why did he not come sooner ? Because 
God did not choose to send him sooner. 



Lecf. IX.] GOD DOES AS HE PLEASES. 347 



By every child Story of the little girl. 

Why did he not wait and come now^ so 
that we could see him ? Because God 
was pleased to send him then. 

I see these children have all got two 
hands and two eves, and two feet each. 
I do not see a single lame or blind child 
here. But was it not for God to say 
whether you should be born with all 
your limbs perfect, or not ? 

In one of our Asylums, is a sweet 
little girl, about eight years old when 
she went there. She is entirely hlind^ 
and deaf^ and dumh^ and almost unable 
to smell any thing. Poor child ! How 
dark must the world be, when she 
never saw a single thing in her life ! 
How lonely must it be, when she never 
spoke a word to any human being, and 
never heard a single voice or noise ! 



348 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. IX. 



The inference from the story. 



And yet she is a sweet child, and with 
her fingers they teach her to read and 
write. But the soul is shut up in that 
dark house, and will never be able to 
look out, nor to speak out, nor to hear, 
till it leaves the body at death ! 

Now, I ask these children, if we 
ought not to thank God for giving us 
eyes, and ears, and a tongue, which we 
can use, so that we can see, and hear, 
and speak? Ought we not to be 
thankful? "Yes, yes," you all say. 
Well, this thanking God is the same 
thing as saying that he had a right to 
make us all, just as he did make 
that poor child. Who but God made 
her just as she is ? And why did he do 
so ? " Even so. Father, for so it seem- 
eth good in thy sight." 



Lect IX.] GOD DOES AS HE PLEASES. 349 

God's altering his laws, shows that he does as he pleases .The sun. 

He may give property, or health, or 
hfe, and he may take them away again, 
just as he pleases, and he does do so. 
He makes one a king's son, and another 
the son of a chimney-sweep ; he gives 
one health, and from another takes it 
away, as he pleases. 

God uses his right to do as he 
pleases, in making and altering his own 
laws. 

When the sun was created, God 
ghve him a law that he should rise and 
set every day at a certain moment; 
and yet on a certain time he altered the 
law, and at the command of Joshua, the 
sun stood still in the heavens. 

When he made the great seas, he 

gave them laws, and said, ' hitherto 

shall ye come, and here shall your 
30 



350 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. IX. 

Law of the Sabbath. 

proud waves be stayed ;' and yet when 
he wanted to drown the world, he broke 
up the foundations of the deep, and 
made the waters cover the whole earth. 

When he had finished creating the 
heavens and the world, he commanded 
that the seventh day should be kept 
holy ; and yet Christ, who is Lord of 
the Sabbath, went about on that day 
preaching and healing the sick. God 
might have selected any other day, and 
have made it the Sabbath, or he might, 
as he did, after Christ had gone to 
heaven, have altered it, and then taken 
the first day of the week, which is our 
Sabbath. 

God made a law that whosoever 
should kill a man, should lose his life ; 
and yet he repealed the law himself, 



Lect. IX.] GOD DOES AS HE PLEASES. 351 



Law of baptism Extent of God's law. 



long enough to command that Cain 
should not be killed, though he was a 
murderer ; and to command Abraham 
to slay his own son. He gives, and 
changes, and alters his laws, just as he 
pleases. He once commanded that lit- 
tle children should be circumcised, to 
show that they belonged to his people ; 
now^ he has altered that, and we use 
baptism by water for the same purpose. 
The law s of God, too, are very wide. 
One city, or one country, cannot make 
laAVS for another ; but God makes laws 
that reach all cities, and nations, and 
ages, angels and men ; his laws reach 
the smallest insect that creeps on the 
leaf of the tree, and the loftiest seraph 
in heaven. The laws of men reach 
only the body, — only one half of a 



352 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. IX. 

Law of fire The lions .... Destruction of Jerusalem. 

man, and that the poorest half. You 
may not do this or that ; but you may 
think it, and wish it, and playi it ; but 
the laws of God as really and as fully 
bind every thought and feeling, as they 
do any great actions, even such as 
kings do, when they act for a nation. 

It is a law of God that fire shall 
burn ; but he can so alter that law^, that 
three men can walk in the furnace 
heated seven times hotter than usual, 
and vet thev shall not be hurt. (Dan- 
iel iii.) 

It is another law, that a hungry lion 
shall kill and eat ; and yet he can alter 
the law so that the holy man shall 
sleep all night in a den full of lions, and 
they shall not hurt him. 

Did these children, any of them, ever 



Lect. IX.] GOD DOES AS HE PLEASES. 353 

God punishes men for breaking his laws as he pleases. 

read the history of the destruction of 
Jerusalem, under Titus, the Roman 
warrior ? If you have not, or have not 
lately, I wish you would do it. Jose- 
phus, the Jew, wrote the w^hole story. 
There you will see this remarkable 
thing; — that on the coming of Christ, 
God would alter and do away all the 
laws and customs which he had given 
the Jews. He had told them in Daniel, 
that when Christ came, they were no 
longer to sacrifice beasts every day in 
the temple ; but the Jews were not 
willing to have God alter this law and 
this custom, and so he buried their altar 
and their sacrifices all under the ruins 
of the temple, and the poor Jews were 
scattered all over the earth, and were 
compelled to let God alter these laws, 



354 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. IX. 

He gives and takes away as he pleases. 

and take away the daily sacrifices, and 
do as he pleased. 

And when God punishes men for 
breaking his laws, how terribly he does 
it, — and in what different ways ! Some- 
times he comes in the famine, and a 
nation melts away in feebleness. Some- 
times he walks on the wings of the 
wind, or rides the hurricane, and then 
what can stand before him? Some- 
times he shakes the earth, and whole 
cities fall down m a few moments. 
" He sits king upon the waters," says 
the Psalmist; and with those great 
waters, when they are calm and still, 
he reflects the bright heavens as if they 
were a great looking-glass; or he 
heaves them with the winds, and tosses 
the ship as if she Avere a feather ; or 



Lect. IX.] GOD DOES AS HE PLEASES. 355 

One thing to he remembered The rose-bush. 

with these waters, he buries Egypt, or 
drowns the world. 

He gives, or takes away, or with- 
holds from his creatures, just what and 
how he pleases. Some are born black, 
some white, some in heathen lands, 
some in christian, some rich, and some 
poor, some to be well, and some to be 
sick all their days, because God does 
as he pleases. 

And now, my dear children, there is 
one thing which I want you to remem- 
ber, and keep in mind. 

1. That you must not envy anybody 
what they have and you have not^ because 
God can do no wrong. 

Suppose you have a beautiful rose- 
bush in a little flower-pot. You go to 
it, and you pluck one, and wear it in 



356 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. IX. 

The fair flower Walking the streets. 

your bosom, or you give it to your 
friend. Why should you not, — is it not 
your own, and may you not do what 
you please with it ? Thus God comes 
into a family, and perhaps takes your 
little sister ^w^ay by death, the fairest 
flower among you all. He puts it in the 
grave, and hides it there. But he does 
no wrong. 

The owner goes to his flock and se- 
lects a lamb. He takes which he 
pleases, and he gives it away, or sells 
it, or uses it for food. May he not do 
with it as he pleases ? 

Thus God gives one thing to one 
man, and another to a second. I walk 
out in the streets sometimes, and I see 
splendid carriages, with costly horses, 
servants to drive, and to vy^ait upon the 



Lect. IX.] GOD DOES AS HE PLEASES. 357 

Why not envy? 

owner; I see some beautiful houses 
with rich furniture, and more wealth 
than the owner knows what to do with ; 
but may I, because I am a poor man, 
envy these men, and feel that God 
ought to have made me rich ? No, no. 
It is as wrong for me to envy the rich 
man who rides, as to despise the servant 
who drives, or who washes and scrubs 
the door-steps. God has a right to 
give riches w^here he pleases, and he 
does no one any wrong. So when he 
gives one little boy fine health, and fine 
limbs, so that he can run and jump 
about, and another is feeble and sickly, 
and lame, and shut up at home, the sick 
child may not envy, for God has done 
it ; and we know that what he does, is 
right. 



358 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. IX. 



Story of the sick stranger The discontented boys. 



A poor sick man once came along, 
and told a gentleman whom he met that 
he was a stranger, and sick. The man 
was kind, and felt for the stranger ; but 
he had a large family, and knew not 
how to take him in. At last he recol- 
lected that the little boys had a room in 
which they played. So he put up a bed 
m that room, and put the sick man 
there, and called a physician. The 
doctor said the man was very sick, and 
that he had the small-pox. 

Now the father did not wish to tell 
his boys that the sick man was there, 
lest it should alarm the neighbors too 
much. So he told the boys that they 
inust not go to their play-room, till he 
again gave them permission. The boys 
felt disappointed and very angry towards 



Lect. IX.] GOD DOES AS HE PLEASES. 359 

Why does God please to do as he does? 

their father. They saw him go into 
the room, and saw their mother, and 
they envied them, and felt that their 
father was doing them wrong by not 
letting them go there, or at least by not 
telling them the reason why they could 
not* But when the man got well, and 
they saw how pale he looked, and how 
thankful he felt, and that nobody had 
been alarmed and nobody hurt, they 
saw that their father did right, and 
they w^ere wrong. 

Just so it is with our heavenly Father. 
He does just as he pleases; i. e., he 
does just as he sees best, without ask- 
ing any one, and without telling us the 
reason why he does this or that thing. 
For every thing which he does, he has 
reasons, wise and holy and good ; — but 



360 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. IX. 

What a Being is God ! 

he sees it is not best for us to know 
them, and so he tells us to believe he 
knows best, and to rejoice that he is 
such a God. In heaven they all feel so, 
and cry, "just and true are all thy 
ways, thou King of saints." You pray 
to God, and you speak to one who can 
speak, and it is done, command and it 
stands fast ; who ruleth in the army in 
heaven, and among the inhabitants of 
the earth. He can do all things that 
are for the best, — he can correct you 
with afflictions, and comfort you with 
the oil of joy. What a Being ! No 
cedar of Lebanon is so tall that his 
lightning cannot reach it ; no hell is so 
deep that his eye cannot pierce it ; no 
spirit so mighty that he cannot control 
it ; no courage so strong that he cannot 



Lect. IX.] GOD DOES AS HE PLEASES. 36 j 

Conclusion. 

quail it. Oh ! the mountains shall de 
part, and the hills shall be removed, bu^ 
his kindness shall never depart from hk 
people, though his wrath shall burn to 
the lowest hell. Let us all rise up and 
say, " the Lord reigneth, let the earth 
rejoice." Amen. 



31 



LECTURE X. 



GOD IS HOLY 



" Ye shall be holy ; for I ike Lord your God am 
holy.^^ — Lev. xix. 2. 



Saying of Plutarch — A father's likeness — The most 
beautiful part of man — The most beautiful part of God 
— Giving a pledge — God's pledge — What makes a 
church solemn — How we can copy God — What God 
would be if not holy — What does the holiness of God 
mean — The first thing — Pure gold — White garment 
-2. God hates some things and loves others — 3. God 
by nature holy — 4. God hates sin wherever seen — The 
weeds — The cancer — Drunkenness — Moses — Uzzah — 
David — Jonah — Peter — First proof that God is holy — 
The jarring instrument — The leaky ship — The imper- 
fect watch — Broken jar — The argument — Second 
proof that God is holy — Bowl full of sun-beams — The 
fountain — God's laws strict — Human laws very differ- 
ent — The laws of men — God's laws do not change — 
How the Jews taught — The sacrifices — God punishes 
breaking his laws — Third proof that God is holy — 

(363) 



364 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. X. 

Saying of Plutarch. 

Sending his Son — Bruising his Son — Christ's great 
sufferings — God of the Bible different from other gods 
— What gods men have made — Heathen gods — Impure 
gods — Wicked men — What a god would such men 
make — A caution — Two men on an island — Who are 
wrong, and why 1 — Conclusion. 



There was a man who lived many 
hundreds of years ago, by the name of 
Plutarch. He was a writer of history. 
He used to say that the man who denied 
there was any such person as Plutarch, 
did him less injury than if he had said 
that Plutarch was a debauched and 
vicious person. I suppose this was 
true. And I suppose that the man who 
should deny that there is any God, 
would do less hurt than the man who 
should teach that God is not a holy 
being. 

Suppose one of these children, who 



Lect. X.] GOD IS HOLY. 365 

A father's likeness .... The most beautiful part of man. 

has a father whom he loves very much, 
were now just going to get a hkeness 
of his father painted. What part of 
your father should you wish painted ? 
You answer, "the face.'^'^ What part 
would you wish painted the best, — 
what part have most pains taken with 
it? You answer again, "the face." 
And why the face ? Because it is the 
most beautiful and noble part of man. 
And why? Because it shows the 
mind, the feelings, the soul within, more 
clearly than any other part. And sup- 
pose the painter could paint the mind 
of your father just as he can the face, 
would you not wish him to do it ? And 
if you w^ere to be wounded, and have 
great and ugly scars left, would you not 
hate to have the wounds come on the 
31* 



366 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect X. 

The most beautiful part of God. 

face more than anywhere else? The 
reason is, the face is the most beautiful 
part of man, and therefore we do not 
like to have it scarred, and therefore 
we want the painter to take special 
pains with it. 

Now, holiness is the most beautiful 
part of the character of God, and 
therefore the writers of the Bible take 
great pains to make us see this part. 
They take us up into heaven, and show 
us the angels covering their faces with 
their wings, and crying one to another, 
and saying, "Holy, holy, holy, is the 
Lord God of hosts." What a lofty 
song is that ! They cover their faces 
and their feet, as if they were ashamed 
to be seen in the presence of a God 
so holy. 



Lect. X.] GOD IS HOLY. 367 

Giving a 'pledge. 

Suppose, now, a man wanted to give 
to another the highest pledge in his 
power. What would be that pledge ? 
What was it in the case of Judah, when 
he made that most beautiful plea before 
his brother Joseph, when entreating 
him to send Benjamin up to his aged 
father ? He gives Joseph a pledge^ and 
the highest in his power; and what is 
that? Is it money? No. Is it one 
of his arms, or an eye ? No. But it 
is his life. This was the highest pledge 
in his power. So, when the great God 
would make his people feel safe and 
happy, even when in trouble, he makes 
them promises ; and lest these should 
not be enough, he gives them a pledge^ 
and that pledge is his holiness. He 
swears by his holiness that he will do 



388 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. X. 

How we can copy God. 

SO and so ; and he swears by this 
oftener than by any other part of his 
character. 

What makes a church a more solemn 
place than any other house ? Is it be- 
cause God here shows that he knows 
all things, or that he is present every- 
where, or that he is powerful, more than 
he shows these in other places ? No : 
that is not it. But God shows his holi- 
ness in his church more than anywhere 
else, and that makes it the gate of hea- 
ven, that makes us feel, '• hohness be- 
cometh thine house, O Lord, for ever." 

You know we are directed to copy 
God, and be like him. What is it we 
are to copy ? Not his knowledge, — for 
we cannot know all things as he does. 
Mo^ his power, for he can do all things, 



Lect. X.] GOD IS HOLY. 369 



What God would be if not holy. 



and " we are crushed before the moth." 
Not his years, for he is everlasting, and 
w^e are of yesterday. What are we to 
copy? It is his holiness; — we are to 
be holy, because he is holy. 

You see by all these remarks that 
holiness is something which God values, 
whether we do or not. Take away the 
strength of God, and he would be weak 
like a man. Take away his knowledge^ 
and he would be ignorant, and w^e could 
not trust him. Take away his wisdom^ 
and he would be very imperfect. Take 
away his eye that sees every thing, and 
he would be feeble. But take aw^ay his 
holiness^ and he w' ould be a devil ! Let 
him have almighty power, and everlast- 
ing years, and his great knowledge, 
without holiness, and every created be- 



370 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. X. 

What does Ihe holiness of God mean ? — The first thing. 

ing would wish to fly from him in awful 
terror. The very thought of such a 
God is dreadful. 

When I say that to be holy means to 
he good and to love to do good^ I suppose 
you will all understand what I mean. 
But this is such hohness^ as good men 
and good angels have. The holiness 
of God means, 

1. That he is free from all sin. 

When we call a man holy, we mean 
one who has more holy feelings than 
wicked ; who is sorry when he sins, and 
longs to be free from all sin. But when 
we say that God is holy, we mean that 
he never had, and never can have, any 
sin, just as pure gold is free from lead, 
and silver and dirt, and every thing 
else. Just as we say a garment is pure 



Lect X.] GOD IS HOLY. 371 

White garment . . 2. God hates some things and loves others. 

and unspotted, when there is no stain 
and no spot on any part of it. But how 
easy it is to mix something else with the 
gold, and make it impure. The gold 
does not hate and reject the dirt which 
may be mixed with it. How easy to 
soil and spot the pure, white garment ! 
The garment does not feel hatred 
tow^ards dirt. To say, then, that God 
is free from all sin, is not saying enough. 
For, 

2. It means that he hates sin^ and loves 
holiness. 

Whenever God sees an honest man, 
and a dishonest man, he at once loves 
the one and hates the other. When he 
hears one man uttering a truth, and an- 
other man a lie, he loves the one and 
hates the other. Light and darkness 



372 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. X. 

3. God is hy nature holy. 

cannot exist in the same place at the 
same moment. If it be mid-day, dark- 
ness must flee away. So if God be 
holy, he must and does love all that is 
good, and hate all that is evil. 

3. Holiness is a part of his very 
nature. 

God can make a world or not, just 
as he pleases ; but if he make it, because 
his very nature is good, the world must 
also be good. He can speak from hea- 
ven to men, or not, just as he pleases ; 
but if he does speak, he cannot speak a 
lie. He cannot deceive, and yet be 
God. Truth and holiness are a part of 
himself. A man may speak or not, just 
as he please ; but if he speaks, he must 
use the tongue. There is no other way 
for him to do. So God may permit 



Lect. X.] GOD IS HOLY. 373 

4. God hates sin wherever seen . . The weeds . . The cancer. 

men to sin or not, just as he pleases ; 
but if they do sin, it is impossible for 
him not to hate their sins. He chooses 
holiness, he loves it, and he hates sin 
of his own choice, and we praise him 
for it. 

4. The holiness of God means that he 
hates sin in all places^ wherever he sees it. 

A crop of rank weeds is an unplea- 
sant sight. If in a garden, it is still 
more unpleasant. But suppose you 
have a choice flower-garden, are not 
these weeds more unpleasant there, than 
anywhere else? 

You know that a cancer is one of the 

most disagreeable of all evils. You 

hate to see it anywhere ; but if it fasten 

on your breast near the heart, or on 

your face, is it not still more disagree- 
32 



374 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. X, 

Drunkenness Moses. 

able and hateful ? So it is with sin, in 
the view of God. 

Heaven is the garden of the Lord. 
And when sin entered it, and some of 
the bright angels sinned, he was pecu- 
liarly displeased, and turned them all 
out of heaven, and cast them down to 
hell. The cancer was too near the seat 
of life. 

Who does not loathe drunkenness? 
And yet how much more unpleasant is 
it, when it comes into your own family, 
and your father, or mother, or brother, 
becomes a drunkard ! 

So when God sees sin in his own 
family, among good people, he hates it 
as much, or more, than anywhere else. 

Moses was impatient and sinned 
once J and God punished him by not 



Lect. X.] GOD IS HOLY. 375 

Uzzah David Jonah. 

allowing him to enter the land of 
promise. 

David sinned greatly, and God pun- 
ished him by sending deaths, and fami- 
ly-quarrels, and troubles, into his house 
all the days of his life. 

Uzzah was going beside the cart on 
which the ark of God rested, and see- 
ing it shaken, he ran and put out his 
hand to make it steady. This was the 
business of the Levite, and everybody 
else was forbidden to go near it ; and 
so God struck him dead for breaking 
his commands. 

Jonah w^as a prophet of the Lord ; 
and when God sent him on a mission to 
a great heathen city, he did not hke to 
go, and so he tried to run away. You 
know the rest. God sent the great 



376 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. X. 

Peter First proof that God is holy. 

Storm and the mighty wind, and then 
the great fish after him, to punish him 
for his sins. And when Peter sinned 
and tried to oppose Christ as he went 
to Jerusalem, the Savior rebukes him 
and calls him " Satan !" God hates sin 
among his people as much as anywhere 
else, and more too. And this is one 
reason why he often afflicts and punishes 
good people, while the wicked escape. 

Shall I now^ tell you a few things 
which show that God is holy? Will 
you try to understand and remember 
the proofs that he is holy ? 

1. He would not have created angels 
and men holy at firsts unless he had been 
holy. 

If a man loved sweet music, and 
were making a curious instrument of 



Lect. X.] GOD IS HOLY. 377 

The jarring instrument The leaky ship. 

music, would he make it so that H would 
jar, and a part of the notes be right, 
and a part wrong ? And could he say 
that this is " a very good " instrument ? 
A part of the angels are holy, and a 
part have become sinners. They jar 
in their feelings, like the jarring strings 
of a harp. Were they, created so? No. 
All was "very good" then in the eyes 
of the Lord. Those men who are in 
heaven now, are all holy ; the spirits of 
just men made perfect : but most men 
who are on earth, are all sinful. Were 
they created so unlike ? No. Adam 
was created holy, in the image and like- 
ness of God. Suppose a merchant 
should send a ship to sea which he 
knew was leaking, and had leaked ever 
since it was built, could he blame the 
32* 



ri78 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. X. 

The imperfect watch . . . Broken jar . . . The argument. 

captain if he never reached home again 
vith his goods? Suppose a watch- 
naker puts a watch together when he 
(cnows that the first great wheel is 
wrong, — is made wrong, — can he blame 
all the rest of the wheels for going 
wrong, or can he blame the man who 
buys it, for not knowing the time of day ? 
A man commits a jar of liquid to you, 
and tells you to keep it safely, because 
the liquid in it is exceedingly valuable. 
Can he blame you for not keeping it 
safe, when he knows the jar is cracked, 
and has been, ever since it was made ? 
No. In all such cases, we are sure 
there is no blame. But now, God 
commands all angels and all men to be 
holy ; but if they had been created un- 
holy at first, they would not have been 



Lect. .... GOD IS HOLY. 379 

Second proof that God is holy . . . Bowl full of sun-beams. 

to blame for not being holy. He must, 
then, have made them holy at first ; and 
he must have made them so as to please 
hhnself best ; and if making them holy 
pleased himself, it proves that he is holy. 

2. The laws of God prove that he is 
holy. 

If we could make a cup so curious 
that we could catch it fuV of sun-beams, 
just as we could of water when it 
rains, and if there was not one of 
these beams of hght, which was not 
pure and white and beautiful, we should 
know^ that the sun, w^hich poured them 
out, must be pure, — should we not? 

If you dip from a little stream a glass 
of pure sweet water, you know that the 
fountain which sent it out must be pure. 
Now if all that comes from God is holy 



380 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. X. 

The fountain. .God's laws — strict. .Human laws very different. 

and pure, we know that he must be so 
also. Is there any sin which his laws 
allow ? Where is the thief, the robber, 
or the murderer, who could say that 
God's laws allow him to do so ? Who 
ever had an angry, jealous, envious 
feeling in the heart, and could say that 
God allows it ? Who ever spoke an 
unholy or impure word, or had such a 
feeling, and felt that God permits this, 
and approves of it ? 

How very different are the laws of 
men ! They command you not to do 
this or that — not because the thing is 
wrong in itself, but because it hurts 
human society. Human laws never 
punish theft or adultery as crimes in 
themselves, but only as hurtful to other 
men. They do not punish or forbid 



Lect. X.] GOD IS HOLY. 381 



The laws of men. 



them because they hurt the doer^ but 
because they hurt others. But God's 
laws forbid and punish the crime for 
itself, and because it hurts the doer. 
Thus God will punish the attempt, the 
desire, and the wish, to do wrong, be- 
cause it hurts the sinner himself. It 
would be foohsh in men to make laws 
by which to reach and punish opinions 
or feelings, because such laws could 
never be executed. But the laws of 
God are so holy, that they reach the 
heart, as well as the hand. Men want 
you should keep the porch and the 
parlor of the house clean; but God 
will allow of no dirt in the secret closet. 
Men w^ant you should have the outside 
of the cup clean and bright ; but God 
tells us the inside must be clean also. 



382 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. X. 

God's laws do not change. .How Jesus taught. .The sacrifices. 

When you are under human laws, 
you find that they change and are alter- 
ed from time to time ; but the great law 
of God, which is holy, can never alter. 
As long as God is worthy of the high- 
est and best love of angels and of men, 
so long will he command them to love 
him — and that will be to eternal ages. 

You know that God taught the Jews 
that he is holy in different ways. By 
the morning and evening sacrifice, when 
the cattle were slain, and their blood 
poured out like water around the altar, 
the Jew was taught that God is holy, 
and that the sinner, hke himself, de- 
served to be slain just as the victims 
were. The swine wallows in the mire 
and dirt, and the Jew was forbidden to 
eat the swine, because God would teach 



Lect. X.] GOD IS HOLY. 383 

God punishes breaking his laws. 

him, that all that is filthy and vile, is 
hated by himself. 

God is holy ; and when his holy laws 
are broken, what does he do? He 
turns angels out of heaven, and sends 
them to hell, without any hope of par- 
don; — he cursed man and the woman 
in the earth ; he curses the very instru- 
ments of sin. The serpent must creep 
on his belly, eat his food in the dirt, 
and be hated by men. The gold and 
silver which the wicked Canaanites had 
used, must all be cursed, and none of it 
brought into the camp of Israel. (Deut, 
XX.) The sons of iiaron use strange 
or forbidden fire, and they are con- 
sumed in death ; and the very earth on 
which we tread is cursed, so that the 
briar, the thorn, the storm, and the 



384 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. X. 

Third proof that God is holy Sending his Son. 

pestilence, have their home in every 
part of the v^orld. 

3. The death of Jesus Christ proves 
that God is holy. 

Christ came from the bosom of God, 
his Father. '^He knew no sin,'' and 
v^as so holy and so good, that the 
Father was ever well pleased with him. 
Christ, too, was the creator of all 
things, and was from eternity God's 
only Son. He came into this world to 
suffer instead of men, — ''he died for 
us," and God treated him as if he were 
a sinner, and were to be punished as a 
sinner. How did he treat him ? He 
sent him into the world poor. He lay 
in a manger. He was despised by 
men, and hated all his life. When he 
rode once, he was so poor, that his 



Lect. X.] GOD IS HOLY. 385 

Bruising his Son. 

friends had to borrow an ass for him ; 
so poor, that he had no place for his 
head to rest in. When he went to 
pray in a garden alone, God treated 
him as if he were a sinner, and he was 
in great horror and agony, and great 
drops of blood fell from him to the 
ground. Wicked men took him, and 
mocked him, and spit on him, and 
struck him, and then hung him up by 
driving great nails through his hands 
and his feet ; but this was not the worst 
of it. When he hung on the cross in 
awful pain, God still left him, as a man 
would turn away from a son whom he 
had determined to treat as an enemy. 
Then did the dear Savior cry, " My 
God, my God, why hast thou forsaken 
me ?" Thus God bruised his only Son, 
33 z 



386 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. X. 



Christ's great sufferings. . Bible God different from other gods. 



as a man would bruise a poisonous ser- 
pent. Why did he thus treat his Son ? 

Because Christ came to take the 
place of sinners/ and he was thus 
bruised for our iniquities, and by his 
stripes we are healed. God is so holy, 
that when he comes to punish sin, his 
sword falls with such weight, that if 
his own son stands to take the place of 
sinners, he is crushed and killed. How 
much he suffered we can never know, 
because we can never know how much 
the Son of God could endure ; but we 
do know that he suffered so that he 
cried out in agony, " My Father, if it 
be possible, let this cup pass from me.'' 

How very different is the God of the 
Bible, from any God which we would 
ever think of! 



Lect. X.] GOD IS HOLY. 387 



What gods men have made. 

Holiness is the beautiful garment in 
which God is dressed, and which he 
esteems beyond all other dresses. But 
do men feel a great desire to be holy ? 
Do they esteem it the most beautiful 
part of the human character ? Oh, no! 
They shun it ; they dislike it ; they 
despise it ! When men write poetry 
about God, they speak of his power, 
his greatness, and goodness, — but very 
seldom about his holiness. Do you 
know why ? Are they likely to love 
that in God which they do not love in 
themselves ? 

Men have sometimes made gods for 
themselves, and what kind of gods have 
they made ? They made, of course, 
just such gods as they chose. They 
made a god whom they called Vulcan, 



3S8 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. X. 

Heathen gods Impure gods. 

because he could work iron by fire ; 
another whom they called JEsculapius, 
because he could cure diseases by med- 
icines ; another was Bacchus, who 
taught them how to make wine ; Her- 
cules, V because he had great strength ; 
Mercury, because he was full of cun- 
ning; and Jupiter, because he was so 
powerful. But among them all, they 
never thought of making a single god 
who was holy ! They took all the 
other parts of God's character, and 
gave them to their gods, but because 
they left out holiness^ their gods were 
all great and impure monsters, and the 
holy God frowned upon all such things 
as objects to be worshipped. 

Men once used to make their gods 
love the very vices and sins which they 



Lect. X.] GOD IS HOLY. 389 

Wicked men What a God would such make. 

themselves loved ; and so now, men are 
apt to think that the God of heaven is 
very much like themselves, and that he 
cares but little more about purity and 
holiness than they do themselves. 

You know too, that some men who 
are very wicked, take a great pride in 
being wicked. They are cunning and 
sharp in bargains, and are proud of it. 
A sabbath-breaker is proud of his bold- 
ness in sin ; a warrior is proud of the 
number of men whom he kills ; and 
some are proud that they can drink 
more, or swear more, or sin bolder, 
than other men ! Suppose now, that 
God had just such a character as these 
men, — what a horrible being would he 
be ! There is not a spirit in the w^orld 

of darkness who is so vile ! And are 
33* 



390 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. X 

A caution Two men on the island. 

men doing right to have a character 
which would make God worse than a 
devil, if he had it ? I ask you. 

Children, you will often be tempted 
to sin and do w^rong towards men and 
towards God ; but I beg that you will 
not despise the holiness and the purity 
of God. It is a glorious part of his 
character. Suppose he were to create 
two men, and place them alone on a 
beautiful island, and tell them that they 
might do, and act, and feel, just as they 
pleased, and he would never call them 
to an account, and never punish them, 
do what they might. One of these 
men says he will curse, and swear, and 
steal, and murder his best friend, if he 
can get any thing by it. The other 
says that he will not do so. He will be 



Lect. X.] GOD IS HOLY. 891 



Who are wrong, and why. 



honest and kind, and do to all just as 
he would like to have them do to him. 
Which of these men would you respect, 
and which would you dislike? And 
suppose God should say that he did not 
care, and would treat them both alike, 
w^ould you love and respect such a 
God ? Oh, no ! God is holy, and he 
ought to be, and we could not love him 
if he were not. 

They are wrong, then — ^who despise 
hohness, and keep it out of their 
ow^n hearts; for they shut out the 
brightest part of the character of the 
great and blessed God. All sin ban- 
ishes holiness from the heart. Be 
afraid to sin. 

They are wrong, who, because they 
see much sin in the world, charge God 



392 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. X. 

Conclusion. 

with it, as Adam did. God hates all 
sin. 

They are wrong, who think they 
love to have God holy, but who do not 
love to have his people holy, and des- 
pise them if they are. 

They are wrong, who think they can 
and shall go to heaven just as they are, 
in all their sins, without rehgion, and 
without holiness. They forget that 
God has told them to be holy, and has 
said that " without holiness no man 
shall see the Lord," to enjoy him in his 
blessed kingdom. And to this let us 
all say, Amen. 



LECTURE XL 



GOD IS GOOD. 



" Oh how great is thy goodness — before the sons 
of men." — Ps. xxxi. 19. 



A visiter — Paul and Barnabas — The sun — meaning 
of goodness — The oceans — The river — The little 
channels — The flower — Sheep and lamb — First thing 
that shows God to be good — A jewel — A palace — The 
king's servants — The curious inhabitant — The soul 
will not die — and why — The abode of man — Adam 
and the creatures — The furniture of the dwelling — 
Wonderful provisions — Second thing showing that 
God is good — The sick father — The great mercy — 
God's distinguishing goodness — The captive — How the 
world redeemed — The Redeemer — The beautiful death 
— Pale corpse — Third thing that shows God to be 
good — Wicked men — Human society preserved — A 
look into the church — A sinner redeemed — Prayer an- 
swered — Goodness of God not to be despised — Don't 
complain of your lot — Not to be proud — God's great 
care and goodness — Must imitate God's goodness — 
God to be trusted — Parting words to the little reader. 

C3S3) 



394 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. XI. 



A visiter Paul and Barnabas The sun. 

Suppose a man were now to go to a 
heathen people who never had heard 
of the Bible, and should have power to 
heal the sick, give sight to a blind man, 
hearing to a deaf man ; what would the 
people think ? They w^ould say that a 
God has come among us, — for none but 
a God could do such things, or if he 
could^ none but a God would ; and they 
would say so, because all people think 
that God must be good. 

So when Paul and Barnabas went to 
the city of Lystra, where they healed a 
poor cripple, the whole city was moved, 
and came out and wanted to worship 
them as gods, for having done so good 
a work. 

The sun, as you know, sends down 
his warm and cheering beams, and this 



Lect. XI.] GOD IS GOOD. 395 

Meaning of goodness The oceans. 

makes the summer, and the harvest, and 
the fruits of the earth ; and because the 
sun does this, many nations worship him 
as a god. They think that what does 
so much good, must be a god. 

Do these children know what good- 
ness is ? It is to be holy in one's own 
heart and feelings, and to be doing good 
to others ; so that all that a good man 
does, is only his goodness acted out. 
If he labors for his family, it is his 
goodness providing for their wants ; if 
he teaches them, it is his goodness bene- 
fiting their minds. 

You know there is a great mass of 
waters covering the larger part of the 
earth. These are all one great body 
of water, though called by different 
names. Thus, a part of them we call 



396 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. XL 



The river The httle channels. 

the Pacific ocean, — a part the Atlantic, 
and a part the Indian ocean ; — a part 
the Mediterranean, a part the Black, 
and a part the Caspian sea, — ^yet they 
are only one great body of waters. 
Just so we talk about the different parts 
of God's character, though the word 
goodness embraces the whole. 

See now if you cannot understand 
me. May not a river have little chan- 
nels dug here and there where its waters 
may run, and though these channels 
may have different names, yet does not 
the river supply them all, and are they 
any thing but parts of the great river ? 
We see God making men happy who 
deserve it not, and we call this grace ; 
we see him do this vfhen they deserve 
to be punished, and we call this mercy ; 



Lect XI.] GOD IS GOOD. 397 

The flower Sheep and lamb. 

we see him bearing with wicked men 
and not kilhng them, and we call it pa- 
tience ; we see him keeping his promises, 
though men break theirs to him and 
tempt him, and we call this truth ; we 
see him punish the wicked so that others 
may be afraid to sin, and we call this 
justice. But these are all only different 
ways in which he shows his goodness. 

You have seen a flower when it had 
done blossoming. How carefully it 
shuts its seeds up in the little pod ! 
But when the time comes, it drops the 
seed and cares no more about it. They 
call the flower beautiful^ but it cannot 
be called good. 

You have seen the sheep take care 
of her lamb for some months ; but the 
moment the lamb is grown up, the mo- 
34 



398 CHARACTER OF GOD, [Lect. XI. 



First thing showing that God is good A jewel. 



ther forgets it, and cares no more about 
it. She cannot be said to have good- 
ness. 

But a father may have goodness ; and 
therefore he takes care of his child as 
long as he hves ; and when he dies, he 
even then loves him, and tries to do 
something more to make him happy. 
As long as he can, he is doing good to 
his child. But God is so good that he 
will be doing good to his people for ever 
and ever ; for all that is good in hea- 
ven, upon earth, or in the seas, comes 
from him. 

Shall I now tell you of three things 
which show God to be good? 

1. His goodness is to be seen in Mb 
creating what he has. 

Suppose you had a jewel, the bright 



Lect. XI.] GOD IS GOOD. 399 



The palace The king's servants. 



est and the costliest ever worn by a 
king, would you not wish a suitable box 
to put it in ? Ought it not to have such 
a box ? 

Suppose you were going to build a 
palace for a king, would you not wish 
to make one of great beauty and con- 
venience ? 

The soul is such a jewel, and God 
built the body in which to keep it ! 
And is it not a wonderful and a beauti- 
ful cabinet ? 

The soul is king over all creatures 
on earth, and is not the body the palace 
in which the king lives ? And how 
good was God to make it just as he has ! 
With just such servants as were need- 
ed ; such as feet to carry it about. Does 
tlie inhabitant within wish to communi- 



400 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Led. XI. 

The curious inhabitant. 

cate thought ? The tongue is the ser- 
vant to do it. 

Does it wish to receive information ? 
The ear is the servant to bring it. 
Does it wish to examine for itself? The 
eye will wait upon it, and show it all 
it wishes to see. And all this body so 
curiously made, was built of a little dust 
of the ground. Half way between 
angels and animals, man seems to be 
the connecting link. His soul is like 
that of an angel, and his body a taber- 
nacle of clay. Wonderful goodness 
indeed ! 

But just go within the house ! What 
an inhabitant is there ! Ah ! there is a 
spirit in the house of clay, that is 
able to govern, and manage, and give 
names to all the cattle ; that can man- 



Lect. XI.] GOD IS GOOD. 401 

Why the soul not die The abode of man. 

age the ship, that can measure the hea- 
vens, that can build up or destroy cities 
and kingdoms, — a spirit that can glance 
in an instant from here to India, or 
from here to the highest heavens. 
Other parts of God's works show great 
goodness ; but nowhere has he written 
it in lines so clear and deep as on the 
soul of man. 

All things that we see around us will 
perish and be no more ; but God made 
the soul of man in his own image and 
likeness, — stamping his image upon it as 
a seal is stamped on wax, and therefore 
the soul will live for ever. 

This world was made for men. An- 
gels do not live here, and have no in- 
heritance here. What a wonderful 
inheritance has m.an ! The grass and 
34* 2 a 



402 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. XI. 

Adam and the creatures. 

the flower of the field, the tree and the 
fruits, the tame cattle and the wild, are 
all his, and God has delivered them all 
into his hand. When he blessed Jacob 
for his piety, he blessed his cattle for 
his sake ; and when he spared the dwell- 
ers in Nineveh because they repented of 
their sins, he had pity on their cattle also. 
What a joyous morning was that 
when all the beasts and the birds came 
round Adam, their master, to receive 
their names ! The bird hears her name, 
and claps her wings for joy, and hastens 
to the tree to pour out her song. The 
horse receives his name, and bounds 
away in his strength. The lion hears 
his, and away he bounds, not to howl 
out his anger, but to respect and obey 
Adam, his king. 



Lect. XI.] GOD IS GOOD. 403 

The furniture of the dwelling. 

The earth is the home, the habitation 
of man ; and how curiously is the great 
house furnished! The sun hangs up 
for ever, to give his hght. The moon, 
to take her turn. The bright and 
spangled heavens to look dovm in their 
glory and beauty ; the green carpet 
which is spread over the earth, to be 
pleasant and delightful to the eye. 

Does man want wood or water? 
They are all ready for him. Does he 
want tools ? Let him go to the moun- 
tain and take the iron and make them. 
Does he want silver or gold ? Let him 
go to the mine, and he shall find it 
safely laid up in the bowels of the earth. 
Does he want food ? The valleys will 
give him grain, the air will give him 
birds, and the great waters are all his 



404 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. XI. 

Wonderful provisions. 

fishing-places. Does he want clothing ? 
The sheep bears it on her back, or the 
cotton-plant will raise it, or the little 
silk-worm is all ready to spin it for him. 
Does he want music ? The sweet birds 
wiil sing for him. Does he want sweet 
smells ? The flowers shall open their 
sweets for him. Does he want beauty ? 
The rose shall blush for him. Sweets 
does he want ? The little bee shall toil 
for him from the dawn to the evening. 
Warmth does he want ? The beaver 
and the seal will yield up their lives to 
supply him. Light does he need ? The 
great whales in the far-off* ocean will 
lav down their lives for his service. 
Luxuries does he want? The ocean 
and the tides and the winds shall all 
wait on him, and the ship shall go and 



Lect. XI.] GOD IS GOOD. 405 

Second thing which shows that God is good. 

return in safety. Say, can you think 
of any thing which this great house, — 
the world, — is not furnished with ? 

2. The goodness of God is seen in his 
redeeming us. 

When God told the grass to grow, 
and the waters to hasten away, that 
the dry land might appear, these did 
not feel unwilling to obey. But when 
he speaks to us, and tells us to be good, 
we feel unwilling, and his word does 
not make us obey. He can speak and 
call to the light, and it will come to 
him ; but it cost the blood of his own 
dear Son to make any man come to 
him. 

Suppose you knew that a physician 
lived on the top of a very high and very 
steep mountain who can cure almost 



406 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. XL 

The sick father. 

any sickness. You have a father who 
is sick, feeble, lame, deaf, and blind, and 
you have nobody to help you, — could 
you ever get him up the mountain to 
the physician ? No, never. And sup- 
pose the physician hears that you have 
such a sick father, and he himself comes 
down, and in his o\vn arms carries him 
up carefully, and there takes care of 
him and cures him. Does he not show 
great kindness and goodness ? 

Just so Christ knew that we never 
should return to God, and w^ould never 
want to, and so he came down into this 
world, and was here put to death, that 
he might buy us from being punished as 
we deserved. 

If all the angels that live in heaven 
w^ere to come down to this world, there 



LectXL] GOD IS GOOD. 407 

The great mercy. 

is not one of them who could say that 
God has shown him such goodness as 
he has shown to the poorest saint. 
Christ never died for angels, and so they 
never cry, " thou hast redeemed us.'' 
Could all the wicked spirits in hell now 
lift up their voices and tell their hopes ; 
there is not one of them who could 
hope that his soul will ever be saved. 
Christ never died for them. They 
were the first-born creatures of God, 
and we the younger ; yet God sent his 
Son to save us. Why did he not save 
them? They had more strength than 
we, and could serve him better. They 
had stronger voices, and could praise 
him louder. They had greater minds 
than ours, and could see and feel the 
greatness of salvation more than we 



408 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. XL 



God's distinguishing goodness The captive. 

can. They were more beautiful than 
we were, and yet they were not saved. 
What goodness in God was this towards 
us! Ah! God punished the first sin- 
ners, who were sons of hght, and who 
stood near his throne, most awfully; but 
for us, he said, " let him not go down to 
the pit, — I have found a ransom.'' 
" Behold the lion of the tribe of Judah 
hath prevailed to loose the seals, and to 
open the book" — the book that sealed 
our ruin for ever, without Christ. 

Suppose a man wished to buy the 
life of a poor prisoner who w^as con- 
demned to death, and should offer a 
piece of solid gold as large as a great 
church, would you not think he pitied 
the poor prisoner? 

But if God had given a piece of gold 



Lect. XI.] GOD IS GOOD. 409 

How the world redeemed The Redeemer. 

as large as this world, and a million of 
such worlds, it would have been nothing 
to what he did give, to save us. If he 
had sent the holy and lofty angels down 
to earth, and they had all come, and all 
been put to death, it would have been 
nothing to what he did give ; for Christ, 
his Son, is the creator of angels, and 
could have made millions more. But 
when God sent his Son, he sent one who 
was as old as himself, who was as great 
as himself, who can do all that he him- 
self can do, and who is as dear as him- 
self. It was God's giving himself to be 
mocked of men, and cursed by men, and 
then hung up to die like a guilty slave. 
Who mourns like him who has lost an 
only son? Who would not give his 
property, his character, every thing he 

35 



410 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect.XI. 

The beautiful death. 

had on earth, to save the hfe of his son ? 
But God loved his Son more than all 
things besides, — and yet he was so 
good, that he sent the blessed Redeemer 
into this world to save it by shedding 
his own blood! 

And how easy now to find the way 
of life ! The mere child, only a little 
more than four years old, has been 
known to love the Savior, to rely on 
him, and to die in peace and joy. I 
have such a case now in my mind. She 
was a sweet child ; and for some time 
before she was taken sick, she felt that 
she was a sinner, and that she needed 
the Savior for her friend. Day after 
day, would she go to her little room, and 
kneel dovm and pray with tears that 
God would forgive her sins, and not 



Lect. XL] GOD IS HOLY. 41 1 

Pale corpse. 

take her out of the world " before her 
new heart had come to her." When 
she was taken sick, she was soon told 
that she must die. She begged her 
father not to weep, for she was going 
to her dear Savior. She heard the 
Scriptures read, she heard her father 
pray, and with a sweet smile, stretched 
out her little hands to bid her father and 
mother farewell, and closed her bright 
eyes in death while repeating that beau- 
tiful hymn, — 

"Jesus can make the dying bed 
As soft as downy pillows are!" 

Her poor, pale body was left, but her 
glorious spirit went up to God ! Ah ! is 
not God very good, who has given us 
the Gospel so plain, that such a babe 
could thus be ripened for heaven? 



412 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. XI. 

Third thing which shows that God is good. 

3. God^s government shows his good- 
ness. 

The Psalmist seemed to wonder when 
he said, " O Lord, thou preservest man 
and beast!" The mighty whale that 
swims among the great mountains of 
ice in the ocean, and the smallest little 
creeper that ever moved its legs, are 
ahke kept, and fed by God. Why does 
God keep and feed so many birds, and 
beasts, and fishes, and little insects ? 
What good can they do to him ? And 
why should he be so careful as to write 
the history of every one, and tell the 
sparrow where to die, and notice the 
hair that drops from the head ? Because 
he is good, and loves to make even the 
smallest worm happy. 

You know, too, that some men are 



Lect XI.] GOD IS GOOD. 413 

Wicked men , . Human society preserved. 

very wicked ; they never thank God for 
his mercies, and never ask him to do 
them good. They abuse all that he 
gives them. He gives them money, and 
they abuse and waste it. He gives 
them health, and they abuse that ; their 
bodies and their souls, they abuse. He 
gives them the Sabbath, and the Bible, 
and his Son, and his Holy Spirit, and 
they waste and abuse all. Yet he takes 
care of these wicked people. He feeds 
them, clothes them, keeps them in life, 
and is all the time doing them good. 
Who but God would do good to such ? 
Why do men have laws, and courts, 
and jails and prisons? Because God 
has commanded them to do so. And 
why has he ? Because he knew that 
men would be happier to live in society 
35* 



414 CHARACTER OF GOD. Lect. XL 

A look into the church. 

together ; and therefore he makes every 
man feel that if he breaks human laws, 
he sins against God. 

Why are men wilHng to give their 
money to build hospitals and school- 
houses, and churches, to light and pave 
the streets of cities ? Because God 
has made them inclined to do what will 
be for the public good, and thus make 
it more pleasant to live together. Do 
not all honest men love that city best, 
where the police is most active and 
awake ? Does it not show great good- 
ness in God in so moving and inclining 
men that they want the laws obeyed, 
and the crimes punished, and the good 
of the whole of society taken care of ? 

But let us look into the church. 
There, in the further corner of the 



Lect.XI.] GOD IS GOOD. 415 



A sinner redeemed. 



building, sits a poor man, who, a few 
years ago, was a drunkard, and a Sab- 
bath-breaker ; he abused his wife and 
his children. He was a poor, miserable 
creature, and all men despised him. 
But God did not. God sent his Spirit, 
and made him a humble Christian. He 
now prays night and morning, — his wife 
is happy, — his children are at school, 
and are happy. He is now well-dressed, 
and is respected. It was God's good- 
ness that took that miserable soul, and 
saved him, and is now preparing him for 
heaven. Did you ever read the account 
of the poor thief who died with Christ, 
and whom Christ saved in that awful 
hour? Of Saul the persecutor, whom 
God converted, and made an Apos- 
tle ? Ah ! God saves not only the sin- 



416 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. XL 



Prayer answered. 



ner, the poor, the guilty, the vile and 
the undeserving; but he saves those, 
sometimes, who are so pleased with 
their sins, that they do not wish to be 
any better* 

How good was God to answer the 
prayers of Job, — of Moses, when he 
prayed for all Israel, of Hannah, of 
Daniel, of Christ, of the apostles, and 
of every sincere, broken heart, on earth ! 
Oh ! there is not a child here who can 
ever offer a real prayer which God will 
not hear, and answer. You can never 
raise a note of praise which will not 
find his ear. You can never heave a 
sigh in your bosom, or whisper a prayer 
in your heart, which he will not regard. 
The seraph who stands in heaven, with 
his golden wings folded, may be a thou- 



Lect. XI.] GOD IS GOOD. 417 

Goodness of God not to be despised. 

sand times as strong, as old, as wise, as 
great, as good, as any one of these 
children ; but if you will pray to God 
from the heart, you will as surely be 
heard, as if you were the lofty seraph. 

Let me entreat these children not to 
despise the goodness of God^ — 

By forgetting him. It is said that 
when a great army came before an an- 
cient city, the inhabitants were saved 
by mice^ which gnawed and destroyed 
the bow-strings of the enemy. And so 
that city used ever after to worship 
mice! This was foohsh and wicked. 
But how many receive good things 
from God every moment, who forget 
him ! When you open your eyes, when 
you move your hand, when you move 

the tongue to speak, He must aid you. 

2b 



418 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect XI. 

Do not complain of your lot 

Every time you eat, or sleep, or drink, 
you enjoy the goodness of the great 
and blessed God. Will you forget him ? 
Do not abuse his goodness. 

By complaining at your lot. But few 
people in the world are rich, or hand- 
some, or honored ; but all may be hap- 
py, if they choose. But you cannot, if 
you murmur at what God gives you. 
You will see other little boys and girls 
better dressed, and some of them riding 
in coaches, and some of them having 
better things than you. But should you 
complain or feel envy ? God has been 
good to you. You have enough to eat 
and to drink and to wear ; friends to 
love you, a home to shelter you, a Bible 
to guide you, the Sabbath to instruct 
you, a soul to rejoice, a God to watch 



Lect XI.] GOD IS GOOD. 419 



Not to be proud. 



over you, a Savior to call you his, if you 
are holy, and the Holy Spirit to aid you 
to become holy, if you wish. 

Oh ! children, don't you take the 
good things which God gives you, and 
abuse them by being vain or proud of 
them, as if you were better than those 
w^ho have less. Don't abuse his good- 
ness by trifling away your precious 
time, or by living in sin and disbelieving 
in God when he says he will punish the 
sinner awfully and for ever. 

How ought we to rejoice that God, 
who is so great and so good, governs 
all thino;s ! Men mav be selfish, and 
wrap themselves up in their own little 
concerns, and neglect to do good. God 
will never do so. The httle flower in 
the lonely valley opens its blossom, and 



420 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect.XI 

God's great care and goodness. 

the little creature, too small to be seen 
without a glass, creeps into it, and 
makes it his home ; and God is able to 
attend to his wants and feed him, and 
myriads more of just such creatures 
while at the same moment he is taking 
care of all the great worlds which he 
has created and all the multitudes of 
creatures in them. And if we live a few 
years, and do not shut God out of the 
mind, we shall see more and more marks 
of his goodness all our life long. And 
if we are so holy and so happy as at 
last to reach the presence of God in 
heaven, and there read his goodness in 
the gates of pearl, the streets of gold, 
in the face of every angel, and of every 
redeemed sinner from on earth, how 
shall we be amazed at such goodness, 



Lect. XI.] GOD IS GOOD. 421 

Must imitate God's goodness. 

and feel like praising and serving the 
blessed One for ever ! 

Once more, my dear children, let me 
beg of you to imitate the goodness of God 
as long as you live. You will see dis- 
tress and sorrow often. Have a large 
heart, and relieve it as far as possible. 
Don't spare your good things ; God did 
not spare when he sent his Son for our 
rehef. Give even a cup of water, and 
he will notice it. 

You will meet with those who are 
unkind and unamiable to you — perhaps 
become your enemies. Imitate the 
goodness of God, and pass it over. He 
is kind even to those who blaspheme his 
holy name. You will find that " it is 
more blessed to give than to receive." 
Does not God teach the sun to shine on 
36 



422 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect XL 

God must be trusted. 

the evil as well as on the good ? He 
limself waits to be gracious, and spares 
lis enemies, and does them good. Do 
you do so, and you will find a rich re- 
ward. You will find, too, sometimes, 
that the ways and deahngs of God 
seem very dark, and very mysterious to 
you; "clouds and darkness are round 
about his throne ;" but never for a mo- 
ment doubt that his goodness remains 
with him still, and that he will bring 
light out of darkness. You must trust 
him now, while in the morning of life, 
and all the way through life ; and when 
you leave it, as you all certainly must, 
still trust in that great and glorious 
Being, whose name is Love. His hand 
will then cover you, and his mercy shall 
never leave nor forsake you. 



Lect. XL] GOD IS GOOD. 423 

Parting words to the little reader. 

And now, dear reader, has this httle 
book given you any instruction, or any 
pleasure? I shall rejoice if it has. 
Has it in any respect made you a bet- 
ter child ? Has it brought the charac- 
ter of God down so that you understand 
it any better than you did when you 
began to read ? I shall rejoice if it be 
so. I am now just about to lay down 
my pen, and you are about to lay down 
this book. I have prayed to God that 
he would help me so to write that you 
might understand; will you also pray 
to him to give you a heart to know him, 
to love him, and to serve him while you 
live? I cannot speak to you in any 
other way, than by my pen ; but I feel 
as if 1 wanted to take the little child 
that is reading this hue by the hand, and 



424 CHARACTER OF GOD. [Lect. XI. 

Parting words to the little reader. 

say, " my dear child, God has sent you 
into this world for a great errand. It 
is that you may be ready and prepared 
to go and live with him for ever. But 
to do this, you must know him, fear 
him, love him, and serve him. Will 
you do it?" And now, little friend, 
farewell. I do not know your name, 
but I shall pray for you, — and pray that 
we may meet in heaven, where " the 
pure in heart shall see God." Amen. 



THE END. 



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